Goku's New Adventure
by kenskywalk19
Summary: The seven tailed dragon had attack Konohagakure and has been sealed in the body of a newborn baby. Who is this baby and how will his destiny become the greatest story ever. Elements from both shows. UP FOR ADOPTION!
1. The name's Goku

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

Author's note: This is my personal take on the Dragon ball Z and Naruto crossover. Just to let you guys know, the dragon ball reference is to the whole Dragon ball manga including the Z sagas (even though the DBZ anime kicked ass). This story will contain elements of both shows as well as the Japanese way of names and some original names of DB. I will try to upload as much as I can. Please review. Helpful criticism is welcomed. Now, I present **Goku's New Adventure!**

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Chapter 1: The name's Goku

Once upon a time, there lived a dragon spirit with seven tails. And he was so powerful that whenever he shook those tails, landslides and tsunamis would result. Out of nowhere, the _Shichibi Doragon _attacked Konohagakure, destroying mountains as the dragon laid waste to the land. As the menace approached the village, many shinobi fought bravely against the beast but to no avail. Finally, risking his life, one ninja was able to imprison its soul in a newborn baby. Having defeated the demon, the brave shinobi died. That shinobi was the Fourth Hokage, the fire shadow, champion of the Village hidden in the Leaves. Our story begins ten years after that fateful event in Konohagakure.

* * *

Inside a hut lied an old man, doing calligraphy as a hobby when suddenly a voice screamed through the window.

"Lord Hokage!"

"What is it?" An elderly old man turned around to see a Leaf shinobi, dressed with black pants and black and where the traditional chunin vest, panting.

"It's Goku, my lord! That young devil is graffiting the mountainside images of all the heroes of our village – your honored predecessors in paint!" Screamed the anonymous shinobi.

"I will go see what he is up to…again" said Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage who came back from retirement after the death of the Fourth.

* * *

_Back at the Hogake faces…_

"Dammit punk! Stop defacing the Hokage Monument!" Screamed the shinobi at the boy, who was currently painting the faces of the previous Hokages including current one.

"Whatever you losers! You don't have what it takes to do this! I rule!" said the boy with the strangest hairstyle, black spikes sticking out in all directions with no apparent pattern to them. He was wearing a blue sleeveless blue gi, yellow pants, held across by a white sash. He kept on painting when suddenly…

"GOKU!" Screamed a voice that echoed across the land as a man landed near the Hokage. This young chunin was in the standard Leaf ninja uniform, his only distinguishing features being a spiky upward ponytail and a horizontal scar across his nose.

"Aw crap, caught again by the old man and Iruka." Said Goku to himself as he turned around to see a red furious Third Hokage and Iruka.

"Goku! You come down right this instance! If not, I will severely punish you for these actions." Said Sarutobi as he got closer to the boy.

"Like what? There isn't anything you could threaten me with." Goku smirkly said.

Iruka raised a smirk and said, "Then you get no supper and dinner meal as punishment if you don't come down."

Goku's eyes widened with his mouth dropping, "Dude, that is totally uncool," as he came down from the monument towards Iruka. Goku loved his food and had a schedule of six meals a day. He had breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, supper and dinner. He would hate to miss one of his meals and Iruka knew this and exploited it to a certain degree.

As Goku came down, he had noticed all the hateful that the surrounding shinobi were giving him. It was a common thing for Goku. He wasn't what he did to deserve it, but almost every day, he was beaten to bloody pulp at night. Goku was strong but he didn't use his strength to fight back as it would give more reason for people to hate him. He used to cry about it with no one to comfort him since he was left alone. He became ashamed of who he was as a result of all the beatings. His beatings would get worse if they knew he had a tail. Goku had his tail since the beginning but knew that no one else had it. It would seem strange if he had a tail and everyone else didn't. He didn't want to add anything else to list of being hated for.

He was living in hell, from the shame of his tail, the beatings that he received, and the doubt of his own existence. But there was one thing kept him going; his dream to become the greatest Hokage. However, he had to deal with the Third right now as both of them walked towards the Hokage hut with Sarutobi, venting.

* * *

"Goku, do you understand what you have done?" Sarutobi said angrily.

Goku was looking away, trying not to pay attention to the latest lecture from the Lord Hokage but instead thinking of his next meal. "I think I will go with the pork miso ramen this time" Goku thought.

"GOKU!" Iruka screamed.

"What? I know what I did was wrong but you should have seen the look of their faces. It was priceless." Goku laughed with a smirk.

"Well if you liked doing that, then you will probably like cleaning it up as well right?" Iruka said.

Goku shook himself at the realization of his punishment as Sarutobi said, "You will not leave the monument until every drop of paint is gone!"

"So? There isn't like someone at home waiting for me."

"Well if you are able to finish early, I might treat you to a meal." Said Iruka as he was looking away towards the window, blushing a little bit.

Goku smiled big and went straight to work cleaning the paint. Sarutobi smiled as he smoked his pipe.

Afterwards, at the ramen shop of Ichiraku, Goku was eating his tenth bowl while Iruka was looking at the boy with his jaw dropped. This wasn't his first time seeing Goku eat but he still couldn't get used to it. Iruka actually kinda of enjoyed having a meal with Goku. He was one of the few people that would appreciate Goku since he also had troubled past.

"Goku," asked Iruka as Goku looked at him with ramen in his mouth.

"Why of all places, did you choose to deface that spot? I mean, you do know who Lord Hokage is, right?"

"Of course!" Goku said as he was gulping down the ramen that was in his mouth. "To inherit the Hokage name, he'd have to have been the best shinobi in the village. It was the Fourth Hokage who saved our village from the dragon demon by finding a way to beat it."

"Ok, then… why?" Iruka had to ask, but he knew the answer as Goku always told him the same. "Because one of these days, they'll be calling me Lord Hokage! I'm going to surpass everyone who came before me and become the greatest Hokage that had ever lived!" Goku stood proudly as he stated his dream so the whole village could hear him.

Iruka smiled proudly, like a father would to a son. "I know I can't play favoritism, but I asked Lord Hokage a favor for you. You know that the survival training is coming up for the Ninja Academy, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Goku asked. He knew what the survival training consisted. A year spent outside the village in the forests with Chunin and Jonin watching the progress of the student to make he or she survives it. The student must also survive with the bare essentials and be able to avoid enemy contact. If not, they would have to spend the year in isolation again until they got it right.

"Well I asked Lord Hokage…"

_Start of flashback_

"Iruka, is there something troubling you?" Sarutobi asked as he was looking over the paperwork while smoking his pipe.

Iruka stood in front of the Hokage's desk, sweating nervously as he knew with certainty that his request would be denied, "Lord Hokage, I wish Goku be transfer to another place for the survival training."

The Third looked up with a bit of an inquiry in his eye, "Why are you asking for his transfer?"

Iruka looked down as he almost knew that the request was to be denied but he tried anyways. "Lord Hokage, as you know Goku is a talented boy who has yet to realize his importance to the village. He wants to be a full-fledged ninja and get everyone's respect. Even though everyone despises for what he is, I believe he will become the greatest ninja the world will ever know."

Sarutobi looked down and as he blew the smoke, "I understand Iruka from where you are coming from. But we must ensure nothing happens to that boy. I would normally say no to this kind of request," Iruka looked down in defeat, but Sarutobi said the unthinkable, "But I will be willing to listen to your request. It took a lot of guts to come in here and request something like this that concerns the village greatly. Where did you have in mind?"

Iruka, ecstatic, suddenly couldn't find his words but after while he finally said, "I was thinking of the Kame forest."

"Ahhh, _him_. You want _the hermit_ to train Goku then?" The Third looked to Iruka as if he knew the plan along.

"Yes, if it is alright I was wondering if I could send him out this week?"

"I approve. However, that man is a dangerous person. I will send an ANBU to watch over him." Sarutobi said he was preparing to get his list when Iruka asked, "How about me? I can check on him once every month to make sure he is alive. I know that his training is extreme. I mean, I didn't even survive two months with him but I'm sure Goku will be ok."

"What makes you so sure that he will succeed where you didn't?" Asked Sarutobi, taking in another puff of his pipe.

"Because Goku is different and has the tenacity to succeed. Also, he always is looking for ways to get stronger and fight stronger opponents. I truly believe he will survive one year with _him_." Iruka said proudly.

Sarutobi blew the smoke and finally, "Well then, I approve. You will watch him once a month and make sure nothing happens to him. He can go as soon as tomorrow."

"Thank you Lord Hokage."

_End of flashback_

"…and he said that you will go to another place for your survival training. You will be meeting a certain man. Be careful, this man is very strict and tough. I had tried to train with him but couldn't last after two months. It will be tough, but I'm sure you will succeed where I haven't Goku." Iruka finished and then he saw the biggest grin from Goku.

"Is he strong?" Goku had to ask.

"Very."

Goku was jumping up and down with excitement, almost exposing his tail, asked, "When do I leave Iruka-sensei?"

"You leave tomorrow. So go pack your stuff." Iruka said laughingly. It was a proud laugh and Goku knew that. He was about to run back to his apartment when he excitedly asked Iruka, "What is his name?"

"His name, Goku, is Muten Roshi."

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Author's note: **Well, that's it for Chapter 1. Hope you like it. Please review and if possible leave some constructive criticism. I would greatly appreciate it.**


	2. The Turtle Hermit

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

Author's note: Well here is chapter 2. I know that it seems it is starting slow, but don't worry, it will pick up. Also, Goku will be learning both ki and chakra attacks as well as his usual transformations. Enjoy!

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_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: After Goku got caught painting graffiti on the Hokage faces again, the Third Hokage punished him, making Goku clean up his mess. Iruka, Goku's sensei at the academy, feeling sorry for him treated him to a meal at Ichiraku's Ramen shop. There he told Goku his plans for the survival training in which that instead of living in isolation in the wilderness like the rest of the students, Iruka proposed to the Third Hokage to have Goku train at the Kame Forest with the hermit, whoever he was. The Third accepted the request as well as Goku when he heard about the request. He believes that with this training, he will be one step closer to his dream: to become the greatest Hokage that the village has ever seen. But will he survive the hermit's dangerous training? Find out next..._

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Chapter 2: "The Turtle Hermit"

"Mmmmm…food…" mumbled Goku while he slept. He dreamt about a big amount of food such as a roasted pork, ramen bowls, rice bowls, noodles and other crazy food that he could think of. However, he was awakened to the familiar sound that we all know happens in the morning.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _The alarm kept sounding until finally, he slammed it to stop from ringing. Goku got up in a sitting position in his bed, trying to remember why he woke up so early. Finally he remember and put a big smile on his face. "Today is the day that I go to train with Roshi! Man, I am so excited! I hope he is strong!" Goku said to himself excitedly. He hasn't been excited since the first time that Iruka brought him to Ichiraku's. He packed up his things that he believed were needed for the training and went through the door, locking the apartment behind him.

Once he was out of the apartment complex, Goku let out a loud "YAHOO!" for everyone to hear and went off running towards the gate where he would meet up with Iruka.

"Goku, you are late!" screamed Iruka.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away with what I was going to take with me to the Kame forest." Goku said with the known Son grin.

"Well, as long as you made it here, that's all that matters."

"Hehehe…" Goku giggled with the common practice of scratching the bottom of the noise with the hand.

Iruka smiled proudly as like a parent would be to their child's first day in school. "Alright then, let's go!" "YEAH!"

At the Hokage office, the Third watched from a far the two figures at the gates leaving. "Good luck Goku. I hope you are able to survive the hermit's training and come back stronger." Sarutobi said to himself as he went for his favorite pipe and his favorite tabacco.

_

* * *

Meanwhile in the forest_

"So Iruka-sensei, what is Muten Roshi like?" Goku asked as he was wearing a big smile ever since they left the village.

"Well Goku, all I can tell you is that he is a very strong man. His training method is known across the shinobi world and there are only a few who have passed. The Fourth Hokage went through the same training as well." Iruka said proudly.

Goku then came with the biggest Son grin ever, "REALLY? That's awesome! I can't wait to start then."

"Great! But I must warn you," Iruka looked down and it seemed a little annoyed on what he was about to say, "there are some things about him that I would like to change."

"Like what?"

"Haaaa!" Screamed a voice of embarrassment. Once they heard it, Goku and Iruka headed towards that direction. "That.." Iruka pointed as they had found an embarrassed girl, holding down her skirt and covering her chest area while an old man was lying in a pile of rubble caused by a hit. Goku knew then that this old perverted man tried to touch the girl inappropriately. As the girl was running away, the old man got up from the pile of rubble and screamed, "Come on, I wasn't gonna do anything bad!" This old man wore a pair of sunglasses that seemed mostly out of date. He wore an orange Hawaiian shirt with a pair of light yellow shorts with sandals. The outfit though wasn't the thing that got Goku's attention. It was the turtle shell that he was carrying around. "Awww, so good to be young. They are all plucky this generation. I can't wait to see more" as the old man said with a perverted smile.

"Roshi-sensei! That is very dishonorable! I had hoped you had changed your habits by now!" Screamed Iruka as he had appeared to be embarrassed by the recent scene that was caused by the old man.

Goku looked up to Iruka and then looked at the old man and became very confused, "Wait this old man is the legendary Muten Roshi. This is guy is just a big pervert. What is so legendary about him," as Goku said to himself.

"Ahh, if it isn't Iruka. My, how much you have grown." As Roshi turned towards the two newcomers.

"It is always great to see you Roshi-Sensei. I have brought you a student for you to train." As Iruka turned to Goku when suddenly, "No. I won't train anyone." Said Roshi.

"But why?" Iruka had to ask. They didn't come all this way just to be denied for training. After all the convincing that he had to do towards the Hokage just so Goku could get this, he would become the laughing stock of the Chunins in the village.

"Because… you still haven't brought me a cute girl!" Screamed Roshi, making Iruka flinch and blush a bit.

"Well you see…I didn't you would hold up to the promise since I quit after two months." Iruka then cleared his throat, "But I am not here for training," as Iruka stood up proudly and presented Goku, "I am here to bring Son Goku for your training."

"Why should I train him? He looks pitiful. Wouldn't survive a month." As Roshi turned his back towards the two and started walking. His response had pinched a nerve with Goku as he screamed, "Oh yeah! I bet you that I can survive anything you throw at me. Because my dream is to become the next Hokage! Believe it!"

Goku had a burning fire in his eyes, proud of his dream. Roshi had notice it and said the unthinkable, "Ok, I will train you," Goku and Iruka bore the biggest smiles when, "however, since you believe that you can survive for…how long Iruka?" Iruka fell off his feet in anime comedic fashion. "For a year sir." "Well then, if you think you can survive for a year with my special training, I believe you "may" become the next Hokage. After all, no one has survived more than three months since the Fourth Hokage. Do you think you will be up to the challenge Goku?"

"Yes! Believe it!" Goku stated proudly with a stern face of determination.

"Alright, let's get started then. I bid you Iruka goodbye." As Roshi turned and walked towards his home in the Kame forest.

Iruka stood there and before Goku went off, he stopped Goku to mention, "Alright be careful Goku! Though he may look like a big pervert, but he is a powerful martial artist. Be sure to listen to him, okay?" "Got it!" said Goku with a response that sounded like a child would give to his parent before entering to school. "I promise I won't let you down Iruka-sensei! Bye!" Goku ran off towards Roshi as Iruka set a proud smile on his face. "Good luck Goku and be safe." Iruka said to himself.

* * *

Goku had caught with Roshi and had asked, "Roshi-sensei, why do you carry a turtle shell on your back?"

Roshi evilly smiled and said, "Oh my boy, you will know what it is for later on, but for now we will go to my house…the Kame house."

As Goku and Roshi furthered walked, they encountered a big house. It wasn't big, but pink with red roofs and with the words _Kame House_ written on the side. "Goku, let's stop here for a sec." As Roshi stopped the two of them, he pulled out a time watch. "I know you had some formal training correct Goku?" Goku nodded. "Good, then I want to see some your abilities." Pointing to a tree Roshi says, "It is precisely one hundred meters from this boulder to that tree over there. How many seconds will it take you to run it?" As Goku was about to answer the question, Roshi interrupted, "Not that a fast runner automatically makes a good martial artists, but it's never a bad thing to have strong legs, you know? So let's try it out, shall we?"

"Don't Roshi-sensei, I am the fastest kid in the academy." Goku said proudly. With a glint in his sunglasses, Roshi said, "That we shall we."

Once Roshi was at the tree, he counted off for Goku to run. Goku knew he was a fast runner and stopwatch proved when Roshi read the numbers, "Not bad, 9 seconds. Now let me try." Roshi got into the sprinters stance and when Goku yelled go, it was like a flash. He was so fast that Goku was amazed by the time. "5.6 seconds! That's impossible." Goku said loudly.

"Impossible is nothing my boy. Your time was incredible…quite amazing actually but you are within human limits! In order to become a master, you must break the wall of humanity! That is the challenge! My time was not bad for an old timer. But what I just did…that is what I mean by breaking the human wall! At your age, with training and discipline, you should be able to break 5 seconds."

Goku, excited at that prospect, jumped up and down excitedly. "Well let's eat some dinner. Tomorrow is gonna be a big day of training," said Roshi as he was heading to the door.

"Alright, I am starving!" Goku exclaimed as his stomach let a loud roar of hunger that could be heard across the forest. Roshi stood wide eyed as Goku smiled with his Son grin and giggled.

_

* * *

The next day_

"Briiiiiin!" Roshi stopped the alarm clock before it made any more noise. "Morning already?" he said as he got out of his futon with Goku sleeping next to him. "Wake up Goku! It's training time!" he screamed as Goku wanted to sleep a little more.

" 'sonly 4:30 am…" Goku said as he tried to sleep some more when suddenly a bucket of water poured on top of him.

"Are you going to be a cry-baby or are you going to get up and train?" Roshi had his hand ready for another bucket to pour on Goku when finally he got up.

After eating some breakfast (Goku eating most of the breakfast served as usual), Goku and Roshi went outside to start the training. "At last you will begin your education in the Kame-Sen school of Bujutsu or better known as the Arts of the Turtle Master. Goku, what is the objective of a shinobi?"

Goku, still half asleep, said "To protect their village and defeat the enemy."

"That is correct," said Roshi as he continued with his lesson, "One does not become a shinobi or study martial arts in order to win a fight or have girls say 'ooo you're so stong!' One master those arts for health in mind and body, for the ability to live one's life as courageously, uniquely, and energetically as one wishes. But! If there are any who seek to terrorize you or any other decent people with undeserved power, you must defeat such enemies with one mighty blast!"

Roshi then looked at Goku, who look dumbfounded, simply had to ask, "Do you understand, so far?"

"Uhhhh….not a word." Goku said with a straight face.

"Just 'train hard and enjoy life'… is that simple enough."

Goku smiled, "Oh yeah, that's easy!"

"Well then, now that we got that cleared, let's start some training. First, some light jogging." Roshi then went off jogging with Goku again looking dumbfounded, expecting some advanced moves or something else, but then Roshi screamed back to him, "Stay with me!"

"Yes sensei!" said Goku as he started to jog and catch to Muten Roshi.

_

* * *

After a few minutes_

"Halt!" Both Roshi and Goku stopped at a milk store with the milk man loading off boxes of milk to deliver to the thirst people of the nearby town. "Good morning!" Roshi said to the Milk Man as Roshi walked up to him. "I'm Muten Roshi, the one who called yesterday?"

The Milk Man stared at Roshi for a while until he realized who he is was, "Oh that's right! Thanks a lot for this! Here's a map of the delivery route that you need to take," as he was taking out

Goku stared at both men trying to figure out what is going until Roshi said, "All right Goku, pick up one crate…We're going to deliver some milk on foot." Goku looked dumbfound, wondering what was the point of this exercise. Milk Man was surprised by this sudden turn of events, "Wait! I thought you were going to use some kind of transportation, not go on foot."

Roshi responded with the simple sensei response, "Well it wouldn't be training then. This will be a good for him." After leaving the milk store, Roshi looked at Goku, making sure that he knew what was coming, "Well now that we got that settled, we'll do the 2 kilometers to the first house by skipping!" Goku became wide eyed and a little embarrassed since he was going to be skipping, hoping no one would see him. "Let's go!" Yelled Roshi as both of them went skipping to the first house.

Goku thought to himself, "This is gonna be a long day."

* * *

Author's note: **Well, that's it for Chapter 2. Hope you like it. Please review and if possible leave some constructive criticism. I would greatly appreciate it.**


	3. Kame style training

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

Author's note: Just a quick reminder that since this is a crossover, characters from both sides will be appearing (including Raditz with a twist). Goku will be three man squad and though Goku does get stronger, he is still not as strong as other students who are talented. Remember, Goku is starting from basically nothing. Only knowing a few taijutsu moves and his sexy jutsu (from Naruto). As I stated before, Goku will use both ki and chakra attacks. Now enjoy!

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Thanks to Iruka's request, Goku is going to be trained by the great Turtle Hermit even though he is a big pervert. Goku, thinking that he will be learning awesome new techniques, is shocked at the start of this new training...delivering milk. Though it seems easy at first, it is actually harder than previously thought. What does Muten Roshi have plan for our young hero's training and will he be able to survive? Find out next..._

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Chapter 3: "Kame style training"

"Man, this is hard, " Goku said to himself, as he tried to finish the last kilometer to the house delivering milk while skipping. It was a strange exercise. Roshi had gotten the Milk Man to give a route for Goku to use to deliver milk on foot. Even though they had reached the first home, it would seem that the exercise is far from over.

"All right," spoke Muten Roshi as Goku was replacing the empty bottles with full bottles, "You've got all the empties?" Goku nodded. "Good, now, for the next kilometer…" spoke Roshi searching for a new regimen in the exercise and saw two lines of trees on a path. Roshi's eyes glinted and pointed to the trees, "With this tree-lined path, you will zig-zag through them. Let's go."

Goku sighed. "Could this get any worse?"

* * *

_After the kilometer_

Roshi and Goku arrive to the house, with Goku almost out of breath. "Goku, you're lagging." Said Roshi, with sort of a disappointed face.

"Sensei, this is exhausting. I want to learn some moves." Proclaim Goku as he was getting a little agitated.

"Now, now. In time. But first, we must first deliver the milk. If not, people will be either receiving sour milk or no milk at all. Now, let's see where the next house is at." Roshi was looking at the map to find the house, looked up and saw where the next house was. "All right, it's now time to climb up these stairs!" Roshi pointing to a set of stairs leading up to a house. Except, that these long set of stairs were on a mountain with the house at the top. Goku dropped bit his jaw at the length of the stairs. Roshi smirked and said, "But, well I don't suppose you don't really have to do this at a run…"

* * *

_At the top of the mountain_

Goku, trying to survive the steps panting his breath heavily, finally made it to the top. Roshi was sitting down on a rock, smoking on a pipe while reminiscing some old memories. "It felt like it was yesterday that the Fourth Hokage was doing the same delivering of milk as you are doing right now."

"Really? Wow!" Goku was surprised. He personally thought it was an impossible training and Roshi was giving it to him because of what he is. Or so he thought. If the Fourth did the same thing, then this training wasn't as bad then.

"My, my, thank you so very much," said the monk coming out of his temple. "Good morning" said both Roshi and Goku as they bowed towards as a sign of respect. The monk looked at Goku and then asked Roshi, "Training Muten Roshi? It has been a long time since him that you took someone up here."

Roshi, half-smiling, looked back at the monk and said, "Yeah, it has been awhile since I trained anyone, but this boy has some potential. He says that he will become a great shinobi…"

"And not just any great shinobi," Goku interrupted, "but a great Hokage."

"Hohoho," laughed the monk. His laugh sounded like that of Santa Claus, but Goku took it to heart as an insult. The monk say the boy's face and realized, "I didn't mean to insult your dream boy. I rarely hear such a dream. The last one that I heard that dream from achieved it. So I believe you will achieve your dream too." Goku grinned big. It was the first time, other than Iruka-sensei, that someone believed his dream.

Roshi, with a loud cough, said, "Well, I guess that means your training is still far from over since if you want to become Hokage, you will have to strive that much harder in your training. Well, we better get going, that milk is getting warm and sour. Bye, see you tomorrow!" Roshi and Goku waved their hands goodbye to the monk as they continued to deliver the milk.

* * *

As they continued to deliver the milk, Goku had to go through a variety of obstacles. Crossing a lone log over a canyon, making sure to keep balance in order to not fall was one of them. Another obstacle was crossing the quicksand areas of the forests as well as avoiding the big and mysterious creatures of the forests. Don't worry, these creatures weren't really bad. They just wanted to eat you.

* * *

After crossing all of those obstacles, both Goku and Roshi made it back to the house in one piece with Goku out of breath and Roshi, completely normal. Goku knew it was going to be hard but when Roshi said, "I know that this was hard today. Believe me; this will get much easier as you do it every day for the next eight months. So…that's all for your **early** morning routine…now for your **morning **routine."

"What!" Goku screamed. All that he did was the early morning routine. What did Roshi have in store for the other routines?

"Come on, Goku, let's go to the fields," said Roshi as he pointed to the fields being plowed by a lone farmer.

Once they got to the fields, Roshi started his lesson, "Well, now that we have done our little warm-up, let's start our morning routine. Your training consists of plowing these fields."

"Plowing?" Goku looked dumbfounded. How was plowing going to help him as Roshi was asking the farmer to see if he could allow Goku to plow. Once it was ok, Goku slowly went to grab the hoes when suddenly Roshi screamed, "Come on, don't slow down now. The longer you take, the longer breakfast is delayed." That instantly grabbed Goku's attention. He would hate to miss a meal. He went running to the hoe when Roshi forgot to mention something else, "You can't use the hoes! This is exercise for your arms and hands, not just your legs! You will plow these fields bare-handed!"

Goku dropped his jaw and screamed in frustration, "You mean…with our bare hands. But that's impossible."

Roshi smirked. "Well then, that means no breakfast for you."

With that statement, Goku went plowing the fields with his hands. After two long hours of plowing, Goku was done. He kept looking at his hand, pain screaming as they were red all over. Roshi, relaxed and smoking his pipe, looked at Goku and said, "What took you so long? I'm starving here. You'll have to go faster tomorrow…when the fields start getting bigger!" Goku couldn't believe it. "The fields are going to be bigger! Great!" Goku thought to himself.

Roshi continued, "But for now, let's go get some breakfast."

Once they both got to the restaurant, Goku was eating like it was his last meal on earth. Everyone except Muten Roshi was surprised at Goku's eating.

* * *

_After breakfast_

"Now that we have gotten a good breakfast, let me ask you a question Goku. What else is needed for a great shinobi?"

Goku thought for a while, "Techniques?" Goku desperately wanted to learn new techniques instead of the usual ultimate prankster jutsu, his sexy jutsu. He had hoped to learn something but his dream was shot down when Roshi said, "From now until lunch is study time! No shinobi or martial artist becomes a master by strengthening the body alone. You must train the mind too!"

Goku let a loud disappoint cry. He hated this part especially his days from the academy.

At 12:30 pm, after eating lunch, Roshi and Goku lay across some hammocks, resting after long beginning of the day. Roshi had stated before the nap that, "After lunch, until 1:30 is naptime. Move well, study well, play well, eat well, rest well, that is the Kame Way."

* * *

After a well-rested nap, Roshi took Goku to a construction site. "What now? Move boulders?" Goku had to ask.

Roshi smirked. "Your next training exercise will be in construction. You'll not only break a sweat and build your muscles, but you'll get to earn a little money on the side. These guys will be glad to accept your help."

Goku looked down in disappointment. When are the techniques coming in?

Roshi called out to Goku, "Come, come, if you don't push yourselves, you'll never become the greatest shinobi at that pace." Though it may sound as an insult, the statement was used as motivation. Goku knew that if he didn't push himself, he would never become Hokage. Roshi knew this and exploited it and hoped it worked.

After working at the construction for a while, Roshi takes Goku to a lake. Roshi is about to give the next training of swimming when Goku said annoyingly, "Wait, I'm not done yet? When are you going to move towards techniques or some moves?"

Roshi said angrily, "How dare you be so insolent? You haven't even laid the barest foundations of strength or stamina or even that matter, Ki and yet you expect me to teach you some moves?"

Goku flinched at Roshi's response but then realized something, "Roshi-sensei, what is Ki?"

Roshi look a little dumbfounded but quickly responded to his question, "Goku, do you know what chakra is?"

"Ummmm nope." Goku said with a straight face.

_I wonder how his teachers are able to cope with him._ Roshi said to himself. Roshi explained, "Chakras are, to put it simply, the energies that a shinobi requires in order to perform ninjutsu. Basically, these energies are: first, those of the body, drawn from each and every one fo the approximately 13 trillion cells that are believed to make up the human body and second, those of the mental spiritual energy acquired over the course of much training and experience. Together, those two forms of energy are what make up the chakras. Do you understand so far Goku?"

Goku, head little bent to the side, replied, "Nope."

Roshi fell backwards in anime comedic fashion. Roshi got back up and said, "Simply put, it's the energy that shinobi use to make ninjutsu. Ki on the other hand is different. Ki is known as the 'latent energy' or 'fighting power.' This force is a tangible energy inside a living being, its major focus being in the center of the body. By drawing it out, a person is able to manipulate it and use it for performances outside the body. Do you understand that?" Roshi asked, knowing that Goku didn't get any of that.

"Nope, not all." Goku said with a straight face.

"I thought so. I think it will be better if I do an example. Just to let you know, Ki can be used for many different techniques. I like to use it for the my Kamehameha wave." Said Roshi as he was preparing for something.

"The kamehamewhat?" Goku asked as Roshi was doing something unthinkable. He pull his two hands into a cupped shape, drawing into his side. He began chanting, "KA…ME…" Goku then noticed a blue orb forming between the cupped hands as Roshi continued chanting, "HA…ME…" The pebbles on the ground began to pull back from Roshi and a little bit of drift began to pick up around him until he screamed, "HA!" as he lunged forward his cupped hands in front of him, sending the blast to the mountain. There was an explosion, but not big enough for a landslide.

"Wow," Goku said with his jaw dropped. _Can I do that if I go through this training_ said Goku to himself.

"That is what ki can be used for," as Roshi turned to Goku. "Even though the blast was powerful, I could have made it even bigger."

"What? Really?" Goku exclaimed.

"That's right. The more you gather ki, the more it can increase the power of the attack to inflict greater damage as well in gaining the ability to enhance your speed, strength, and endurance. However, there is a downside. Usually the more concentrated the masses are, the more time the person requires to draw ki out. The training that we are doing now will help you be able to access your ki reserves better at the same time be able to use chakra for ninjutsu. So, are you ready to continue?"

Finally, Goku understood the purpose of the training. If he was going to learn to use that technique, he needed to put more effort into the training. He nodded to Roshi and was ready to go swimming when Roshi said, "Take off your clothes, we wouldn't want you to catch a cold." Goku then took off his clothes, revealing his tail to Muten Roshi.

At first, Goku thought that Roshi would scream and call him a monster but the most unexpected thing happened. "Alright go in then." Roshi said.

Goku was dumbfounded. How can he not see the tail? Does he have a tail? He kept asking himself these kinds of questions until finally Roshi said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the tail but you should avoid the full moon as much as possible." _Full moon? What did he mean by that?_ Goku asked himself as he dove into the water.

"Good, now do ten laps," Goku let out a sigh since he believed it was an easy exercise when suddenly a shark came up from behind to try to eat him. Goku kept swimming faster to avoid the shark as he heard Roshi scream out, "I forgot to mention about the sharks."

After swimming ten laps and escaping from being shark meat, Goku was panting at the shore. Roshi got up from his spot and said, "Alright, let's go to the next exercise."

* * *

Roshi took Goku to a tree and tied him up with rope as he explained the next exercise, "Now this one is to hone your reflexes."

"What are you tying us up with rope for then?" Goku asked.

Roshi responsed, with a sparkle off his sunglasses, said, "You are to dodge the enemy's attacks within the range of this rope!"

"What enemy?" asked Goku. Then Roshi did something inexplicable. As he was tip-toeing towards one of the sides of the trees, he rattled a bee hive to make the bees pissed. He ran far away from the action to make sure he wasn't stung. He safely retreated behind a rock while bees tried to sting Goku. Roshi yelled out, "Step lively! If you don't dodge them quickly, you'll only be stung more."

_After a few minutes_

Goku and Roshi returned back to the Kame house with Goku a little worse for wear. He had bee stings covering his whole body. He looked like a giant plum with all the swelling from the stings.

"Well, that should do it for one day's training." Said Roshi as Goku sat down with loud thud and breathed a long phew.

"Sensei, the type of training that I underwent today…do I have to do this every day?" asked Goku.

Roshi said with a smirk, "Of course not. Today was just a warm-up. Starting tomorrow for the next 8 months, you will be doing the same exercises you did today," Goku looked up and saw the strangest item that Roshi was carrying and right knew what was next as Roshi said, "But carrying this 30-kilogram shell on you!"

With that statement, Goku fell down, back on the floor, panting, knowing that the next 8 months will be hell. He finally realized why people quit the hermit's training after a few months. Goku was determined to make it through but at that moment, he had wondered if he was gonna go back in one piece.

* * *

Author's note: Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you were curious on how Goku still has his tail and not have transformed, its because Goku usually goes to sleep early and when the full moon is out in the village, the Hokage places a genjutsu on Goku for him not to see the moon but something else in case he looks at the moon. But he may forget to do it sometimes. And you will find out why the Hokage knows about the moon later on. Well leave some comments and if you want some constructive criticism about what is going on so far. Until next chapter, Peace!


	4. Graduation Exam?

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Goku continued to train under the legendary Muten Roshi, hoping to increase his skills to one day become Hokage. However, Goku had to face a number of routines that were borderline dangerous and good for as well. Roshi then showed Goku ki as well as the Kamehameha wave to demonstrate the power of ki. All of this done with a weighted turtle shell. Will Goku be able to survive for the whole year or will he quit? Find out next on Goku's New Adventure... _

* * *

Chapter 4: "Graduation Exam?"

The Turtle Master's legendary training regimen seemed insurmountably harsh at first. And yet Goku pressed on, from a burning desire to succeed and become the next Hokage. Goku kept with the same training routine. Milk delivery in the early morning, plowing the fields with his bare hands in the mornings, study readings before lunch, nap time, work in the construction area, swimming in the lake and avoid being eaten by a shark, and last but not least, avoid the bee stings. All of this was done while wearing a 30 kilogram turtle shell on his back.

The days and months dragged on wearily, until, without, realizing it, Goku had conquered what once seemed unconquerable. He seemed to get better and better, with Roshi taking notice as well as Iruka. As promised to the Third Hokage, Iruka went once every month to check on Goku, to make sure that he is alive. Goku was very much alive and surviving the training better than Iruka expected.

Then one day with a three months left before going back to the village, Goku came screaming back to the Kame house where Muten Roshi was watching a tv program of women doing gymnastics and stretching. As he was watching the tv with a perverted smile, Goku came through the door, screaming, "Hey Pervy turtle! Roshi-sensei!"

Roshi, who looked away from the tv with a look of _what is so important that you have to interrupt me_ kinda of thing, asked, "What's up?"

Goku, jumping up and down in excitement, said, "Ya gotta come with me quickly."

Goku pulled Roshi's hand with as both of them went to the lake spot. Roshi, curious to what Goku wanted to show him, ask, "This is the lake, what about it?"

"Well look," Goku said as something amazing was about to happen. Roshi was a bit dazed when suddenly Goku's hands were forming a cupped shape and pulling them towards his side. Roshi then realize what Goku was going to do when he heard the chanting, "KA…ME…" A blue orb started to form in the cupped hands, taking Roshi by surprise but it wasn't unitl Goku finished the chanting, HA…ME…HA!" He shot the blue orb beam towards the mountain, destroying the top of it.

Roshi flinched! He had to make sure that what he saw happened and when smoke cleared, the mountain top was destroyed. He look at Goku with his Son grin, saying, "I guess I don't know my own strength hehehe."

Roshi was amazed at the boy's strength but Iruka's amazement was even greater. Today was one of the days that he could check up on Goku and it would appear that it was lucky day. Iruka had tried to do the Kamehameha wave before but to no avail. Watching Goku doing it brought some tears of pride to him. He cleaned his tears and went off back to the village.

* * *

Back at the Kame house, Roshi was proud of Goku as he said, "I've got to be honest, Goku…there isn't much more I can teach you."

"WHAT? Then what I am going to do for the next few months?" Goku threw down his jaw.

"All the basics of the Kame school of martial arts are incorporated within the training that you have been doing every day these past seven months," as Roshi explained. "It seems you haven't noticed it yourself, but your eyes, your fists, your legs – your entire body and even your mind have been forged like steel swords. Martial art is no more than the application of those abilities and these skills will come in handy when becoming a shinobi. However, on the path of Budo one does not strive for victory over an opponent but strives to avoid defeat by one's own self."

Goku looked at Roshi curiously since as result of the study time, he was able to grasp most of Roshi had said and asked him, "Then how I do that?"

Roshi replied, "You must train yourself on the foundation of what you have learned until now. As you graduate from the Ninja academy, do not be seduced by the fact you have graduated. Take in what you have learned in the academy and in your training and further apply it. Do you understand Goku?"

Goku nodded in response. "Good, now for the next three months I will teach you nothing new. You must continue just what you have been doing already."

Goku flinched and asked, "What do you mean?"

Roshi replied as he was grabbing something behind him, "This means that you will do all of your routines normally except, of course, you're now going to wearing twice as heavy a turtle shell. And also learn how to survive a couple of days in the forests."

Goku fell off his feet in comedic fashion when learned that he would have to carry something heavier. It would seem that the training would never end.

* * *

_Three months later_

Goku was waiting in front of the Kame house for his ride when he say both Iruka and Roshi walking together towards the house.

"Iruka-sensei!" screamed Goku as he rushed towards Iruka.

"Goku! It's been a long time! How did your training go?" Iruka said as he went up to Goku.

Goku nodded and said, "It was great. I learned a lot as well as some survival tricks that the old man gave me."

"I hope he didn't give you any dirty magazines to read." Iruka said with a slight blush.

"No, he was most of the time reading them and watching some tv program." As Goku pointed to the stack of magazines on the front porch. Goku and Iruka then both laughed as they knew Roshi was a big pervert.

"Ahem," Roshi cough with a slight hint of embarrassment. "Now it has been a year since you came here to do training, let's look at your progress. Goku, you can take off the turtle shell."

"Thank God, I didn't want go back to the village wearing this," said Goku as he was taking off the 60 kilogram turtle shell. Then Goku realized something…he felt a lot lighter than usual. He couldn't feel his own weight.

Roshi picked up on Goku's thinking and said, "Try jumping as high as you can."

Goku replied, "Ok," unsure what would jump prove. But once he jumped, suddenly he felt like he was flying. He jumped almost to the heavens, unsure what just happened to him. Once he reached the ground, he realized and was amazed how much lighter and stronger he was. He started to run around very fast with a lot of excitement. It took Iruka and Roshi to cough really loudly to get Goku to stop from using up all his energy.

"Well, I leave him to capable hands Iruka. You still owe a pretty girl by the way," Roshi said as he started to walk towards Goku.

"But what about Goku? I'm pretty sure that he didn't bring a pretty girl as well." Iruka said with a slight blush.

Roshi looked at Iruka with a tad bit of a perverted smile and said, "Oh, don't worry. Goku has already shown something good. I think he called his sexy jutsu."

Goku, meanwhile, had his arms behind his head and was displaying his Son grin and giggling. Iruka was confused at first but then he realized on what the jutsu was. It seems that he wasn't the only victim of Goku's perverted jutsu. He was gonna punish Goku for using that jutsu, but he decided to let it go. He smiled and said, "Alright, I guess I owe you one. Thank you again Muten Roshi for allowing Goku to train with you. I'm sure he appreciates it. Right, Goku?"

Goku nodded.

Roshi smiled and said, "Well, I guess my job to train is over but don't be surprised to see me every once a while. Also don't forget your training and the basics of the Kame style."

"That's right. Move well, study well, play well, eat well, rest well, that is the Kame Way." Goku said with a big grin.

Roshi nodded and headed back to his house, with a wave goodbye to both Goku and Iruka. Iruka and Goku did the same and started to head back to village.

_Oh man, I can't wait to show off to everyone in the village. I'm sure that I will be able to pass the graduation exam with no sweat_, Goku thought to himself as he and Iruka were entering into the village. Little did he realized because of his new found strength, he had gotten arrogant.

* * *

_Two years later_

Goku was frustrated. Only did he realize how arrogant he was when he thought that he could pass the graduation exam the first time through. He still wore his blue gi and yellow pants with a white sash around the waist line, but he also had orange weighted wristbands of 10 kilograms. He wore his regular boots and also kept his tail hidden. Now, he was gonna take the graduation exam a third time. Though he improved with taijutsu moves and ki attacks such as the Kamehameha wave with practice, he was still having trouble with his jutsu. When it came to exam, Iruka was present, along with another chunin. This chunin dresses similarly to Iruka but he had long light blue hair. Iruka then said, "For the final exam, the subject will be the clone jutsu. Wait here until your name is called to go into the testing room.

Goku flinched and started to freak out. _Crap, why did it have to be the clone jutsu? That is my worst jutsu! Why couldn't it be ki attacks?_ Goku thought to himself.

Once his name was called, Goku went into the testing room and tried to perform the clone jutsu. He did the handsigns for the jutsu and said, "Clone jutsu." A bit of his ki expelled out in trying to do the jutsu. But instead of a clone, there was a messed half-ass clone next to him. Goku then realized his mistake and tried to get away with it with his Son grin. But Iruka, pissed, screamed, "YOU FAIL!"

"Iruka-sensei," Mizuki, the other chunin next to Iruka said, "This is his third time, and he did manage to basically conjure up his other self, even if it was a little flawed. I'm not that at the clone jutsu either. But what if we just give him a break? I mean, he did survive the Turtle Hermit's training."

Goku looked up with a smile on his face. Why did he think of that before? It was Iruka who suggested for Goku to go train with Muten Roshi. Maybe Iruka could pass him because he had survived the yearlong Kame style training.

But then Goku got the response he didn't want to here, "The answer is no Mizuki. Every student is supposed to generate at least three clones. Goku only produced one, and he did it very badly. Even if he did survive the Hermit's training, that does not give him a free pass. It is a great accomplishment, but he was supposed to generate a clone and to be quite frank, his performance doesn't merit a passing grade."

Goku looked at Iruka with anger and frustration. _Then why did I go through that hellish training if you won't pass me? What do I need to do to prove that I can be a ninja?_ Goku thought to himself. Iruka dismissed him and said to bring out the next student.

* * *

_Outside the Ninja Academy_

Goku was watching all the students being congratulated by their parents for passing the exam while he didn't and was all alone. Goku was sadden. He gotten stronger thanks to Roshi's training but it wasn't enough for him to graduate. He didn't have anyone to say to try harder or you will get it next time. He was truly alone. He even noticed all the hateful glares at him. As he walked away, he heard some of them talk…

"Hey, isn't he the kid who…?" said one to the other person next to her.

"Yeah, that's him. The only one who failed! Can you imagine if they let someone like that become a shinobi?" said the other one.

"Serves him right. I mean, think about what he **is**…" said one of them before interrupted by another person, "Don't even go there. You know it's forbidden to say it.

Goku started to wake away from the academy back to his home. Alone. He was feeling worthless. Suddenly he heard a voice, "Goku." He turned around to see Mizuki. Goku was a bit dumbfounded. "Mizuki-Sensei?" _Why does Mizuki-sensei want to talk to me? _Goku thought to himself.

Mizuki then took Goku to one of the many rooftops of the Konohagakure. Goku was still down on himself, when Mizuki finally spoke, "Iruka-sensei is a really serious guy. His parents died when he was young. So, everything he's accomplished he did by himself, with a lot of hard work and discipline."

Goku, still looking down, asked, "So? What's that got to do with me?"

Mizuki replied, "So you remind him of himself."

Goku, for a second looked up and was a bit surprised, but not enough to get out of his funk. Mizuki continued, "He think he's helping you to grow strong. That is why he sent to train with the legendary Turtle Hermit, I believe. He wouldn't have done it if he didn't believe that you could grow stronger. I mean, he survived two months and he quit while you survived the whole year with Muten Roshi."

That didn't help Goku. He was still looking down. Mizuki then looked at Goku and said, "Try to give the guy a break. Can't you understand where he's coming from? One orphan to another?"

"But I really wanted to graduate." Goku said as he still kept looking down and depressed.

Mizuki then seize on this moment and said, "Then, I guess there's no choice. Let me tell you a secret that I've been keeping for a long time." Goku then looked with curious face as to what this secret was.

* * *

_Later that night_

Iruka was resting in his quarters when he started to hear the alarm and a loud knocking on his door. He went to open the door and saw Mizuki panting and nervously sweating. "Mizuki, what is going on?" Iruka asked.

"It's Goku," Mizuki said as he was trying to catch his breath and continued, "I'm afraid that somehow he's found out about and stolen the secret scrolls."

"What?" Screamed Iruka.

* * *

In a part of the forest, far away from the village, Goku was sitting down on the ground opening the scroll. _Finally, all that training paid off_ Goku said to himself. As he looked at the scroll, Goku said to himself loudly, "Okay, let's see. The first jutsu in the scroll is the multi-shadow clone jutsu…Man! My least favorite jutsu, and suddenly it's turning up all over!"

Back at the Hokage's building, the shinobi there including Mizuki and Iruka were all getting impatient and angry over what Goku had just done. "This time he has gone too far Lord Hokage!" said one of the shinobi there.

Another shinobi said, "The scroll that he has taken is so dangerous that the first Hokage had sealed it away!"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked up with his pipe in his hand and said, "Yes, if that scroll is misused and falls into the wrong hands, it could be deadly! I want you all to spread out and find him. The scroll was taken half a day ago. Find him!"

"Yes sir!" screamed all the shinobi as they separated. Iruka decided to go the forest where he believe that Goku might be there. Mizuki, on the other hand, had other plans. _Once word of this spreads throughout the village, that should be it for Goku if it's discovered that he stole the secret scroll and then disappeared. I have to make sure that I get to him first before the others find out what I have planned_, Mizuki said to himself as he raced to the forest as well.

Back at the forest, Goku was sitting down and out of breath. A shadow was coming over him and he looked up to see Iruka, very pissed. "Gotcha!" scream Iruka.

"About time! I found you!" said Goku with his Son grin.

Iruka screamed back, "No, you fool! I found you!" Iruka then noticed something. Goku's clothes were filled with dirt. His blue gi and yellow pants as well as his wristbands had spots of dirt all over the place.

"Heh…I guess you have got me. Too bad you were so fast. I've only memorized one jutsu," said Goku with one of hands scratching the back of his head and wearing his traditional Son grin.

Iruka, curious to why Goku was covered in dirt, asked, "You look exhausted. What have you been doing?"

Goku replied back, "Wait till I show you. I never dreamed…some of the shinobi jutsus are so amazing! I thought that ki was amazing as it is but if I show I have mastered these jutsus, you will have to let me graduate right?"

Iruka then realized why Goku was covered in dirt. _So…he came here to practice his ninjutsu? By the way that he looks now, he must have worked himself to exhaustion. I guess that the Kame training did help him in a lot of ways, _said Iruka to himself.

"Goku," asked Iruka with Goku looking up at him while he continued, "What's up with that scroll that you are carrying?" Iruka was pointing at the scroll tied behind Goku's back.

"What…this?" Goku replied while looking at the scroll. "Mizuki-sensei told me about it. And about this place! He said that if I could show you that I had learned the jutsu in this scroll that you'd let me become a shinobi!"

Iruka flinched a bit. _Mizuki? Why Mizuki tell him that lie…unless._" Iruka then realized the trap, pushed Goku away and took the full brunt of the Mizuki's kunai attack. Iruka was pinned next to the wall of an abandoned house. He look a little worse for wear. "Mizuki, now I understand!" Iruka said as he looked up to the trees to see Mizuki, in full attack mode with two huge shuriken on his back.

Mizuki looked at Goku, who was confused to what was going on, and said, "The scroll, Goku, give it to me."

Goku still confused, looking both at Iruka and Mizuki, trying to figure out on what is going on. Iruka broke the silence and said, "Don't let Mizuki have it, Goku! Protect that your scroll with your life! It's more than dangerous than you can imagine – it holds the record of a completely forbidden jutsu! Mizuki used you because he wants it for himself!"

Goku, after hearing Iruka, looked at Mizuki, pissed that he was used for such a deed.

Mizuki grinned and said, "Goku, even if you have read the scroll, it will still be meaningless! I can show you what it means!"

Iruka, paying attention to Mizuki's words, realized on what Mizuki was going to say next and screamed, "Shut up, you idiot! That is forbidden!"

Mizuki, paying no attention to Iruka's plea, continued, "You know what really happened in the incident where the seven-tailed dragon demon was sealed up again twelve years ago, don't you?"

Goku now look dumbfounded. _What does he mean by what really happened? All I know that the seven-tailed dragon was defeated by the Fourth Hokage. So, what does he mean?_ Goku thought to himself.

Mizuki continued, "Since that incident, the people of our village have been bound by the strictest decree."

Goku, now even more confused, asked, "What decree? I don't remember any decree."

"You wouldn't. Part of that decree was that everyone would know about it…except you!" replied Mizuki giving off an evil laugh.

Goku, still wanting to know, asked, "Except me? Why not me? What law are you talking about?" Mizuki continued his evil laugh while Goku continued to ask, "What? What was the decree? What?"

Mizuki stopped laughing and with an evil grin said, "That no one must ever tell you that what you are…is the seven-tailed dragon demon!"

"What?" Goku said as he fell backwards with his butt hitting the ground at the shock of the news, "What are you talking about?"

Iruka screamed to stop, desperately pleading Mizuki to stop from telling Goku more. Mizuki paid no attention and continued, "In other words, you are the seven-tailed dragon spirit that destroyed the village. It was you who murdered Iruka's family! Until, at last, our beloved hero, the Fourth Lord Hokage, trapped and bound you in this form."

"STOP IT!" screamed Iruka, desperately trying to stop Mizuki from telling more.

Mizuki continued, "Since then, you have been made a fool of by everyone in town! Didn't you think it was strange? To be so despised, everywhere you went?" Goku flinched and realized what Mizuki was saying was true. If he was dragon demon, that was why he was despised so much.

Mizuki then took this moment to strike Goku with one of the big shuriken in his hand and said, "If he were honest, even noble Iruka would admit he hates you, too!"

That statement stroke something inside Goku. He was angry and sad that even Iruka would hate as well. _All that kindness was a show then…to kill me later eh Iruka-sensei?_ Goku said to himself as he tried to control his emotions, letting a loud yell and a large amount of ki. Because of his frustration, his tail wanted to come out and poked a hole through the pants, showing it to everyone. Both Iruka and Mizuki saw the tail and were both about to speak but Mizuki beat it to the punch, "Hahaha! No one will ever accept you now, especially with that tail!"

Iruka looked at Goku with his awesome power of ki and saw eyes of sadness. Iruka then started to speak to himself as he went to try to save Goku from the incoming attack, _Goku, you never knew a parent's love. Since the day of your birth you have been shunned by our entire village! The best you could ever hope for was attention, not love and you could only get that by doing things that would get you into trouble! And you didn't care. You were willing to accept any criticism, any condemnation, so long as it meant that someone was paying attention to you. It was brilliant performance, Goku… but it was all a sham to hide your loneliness and pain!_

Mizuki then screamed as he unleashed his shuriken, "That scroll that you have stolen, it was the instrument of you bondage. But you will never be able to see it because I am going to kill you here and now!"

Splash!

Goku looked, terrified and saw Iruka taking the shuriken into his back. But what was more surprising were the tears that were falling from Iruka's face. Iruka said, "Goku, I know how you are feeling right now. I too felt your pain. With my parents gone, there was no one to praise or respect me. I was so lonely. I became the class clown or do anything to attract attention. I just wanted someone to notice how good I was, to be proud of me. Being the class clown was still better than being nobody. But it hurt so much. I now know that, Goku. I was so hard on you, yelling, scolding, it must have hurt a lot. I tried the best that I could and hope the Kame style training would help. Forgive me. If I'd been a better teacher…a better person…maybe neither of us would have to come to this."

Goku looked at Iruka for a bit and ran off as fast as he could. It was fast, like a flash thanks to all the training that Muten Roshi gave.

Iruka screamed, "GOKU!" as he saw Goku's figure lost in the forest.

Mizuki came down with an evil laugh and said, "What a pity. But I'm afraid that once Goku sets his mind on something, he can't be dissuaded. He is going to use the scroll to take his revenge on the village. It should be much easier for him to learn especially with what he went with the Turtle Hermit. Did you see that look in your protégé's eyes? Those were the eyes of the dragon demon!"

Iruka pulled out the big shuriken and got up, trying to catch his breath so he wouldn't pass out, "You don't know Goku at all. What he went through and his training. He is a lot of stronger than your giving him credit for."

Mizuki evil smirked and said, "Well, we'll find out, won't we." He went sprinting ahead to the direction where Goku sprinted to. Iruka got up and followed him.

After a few minutes of fighting between the two, Iruka and Mizuki came back down to the ground. Both of them were panting but Iruka looked worse for wear. He was blood and fast as result of the damage he received from the shuriken.

Mizuki looked at Iruka and said, "Hee-Hee-Hee! So noble! Saving your parent's murderer and for what? What happens if we let him live?"

Iruka grinned and said in reply, "Then maybe the scroll is safe from a complete scumbag like you."

Mizuki pissed at the insult, replied in anger, "You are a fool Iruka. Goku and I are two of a kind?"

Goku, who was behind some trees and saw the fight between Iruka and Mizuki and was hearing the conversation between the two, flinched at hearing that last statement of Mizuki.

"What do you mean two of a kind?" asked Iruka.

Mizuki grinned evilly and said, "I can use that scroll to achieve the same kind of limitless power! The demon within him hungers for that kind of strength! It is in his blood! You were right to fear him, despise him."

Iruka chuckled and that was all it took for Goku to think that maybe _Iruka-sensei really does hold me in contempt_ Goku said to himself.

"Maybe I do hate the dragon within him," Iruka said as he coughed up more blood, "But not Goku. For him, I have nothing but respect. He is an excellent student. He works with all his might. You should have seen how he was training during his time with Muten Roshi. He survived the whole year training like that even with double the weight that I had gone through. I couldn't do two months and yet he did it in a full year. But, sometimes, yeah he can be a hand full. Even so, he is awkward, clumsy, screw-up and people have mocked and shunned him. As result, that has given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain." Iruka looked up to Mizuki with a proud eyes and smile and said, "That boy is no longer your dragon demon! He is a citizen of Konohagakure…Son Goku!"

Goku, hearing Iruka's speech, started to cry profusely. _Thank you Iruka-sensei_.

Mizuki, pissed, takes out his other shuriken to strike Iruka with and says, "Aww! That is so sweet! Just hearing you say so makes feel all warm and fuzzy! Well, Iruka…I had planned to save you for last, but sometimes things just don't work out the you plan so…" Mizuki moved, ready to kill Iruka, "Say goodbye."

Iruka lowered his head in defeat, knowing that he was about to die and had hoped that Goku was very far away from this place when suddenly…

BAAAM!

Iruka looked up and saw Goku kneeing Mizuki in the face, making him let go of his shuriken. Mizuki recovered and got back onto his feet, surprised. _What the hell happened? I didn't even see him coming! When did he get so fast?_ Mizuki said to himself when looked up to see Goku, pissed and giving off a small yellow flame around him.

"Keep away from Master Iruka or I'll kill you!" said Goku with an angry flare in his eyes.

Iruka, surprised to see Goku here but even more that, he said, "What the hell are you doing here? You should have stayed away! Get out of here! Save yourself!"

Goku stood his ground as Mizuki spoke, "Loudmouth brat! I can kill you with one blow! What makes you think you can beat me?"

Goku stared at Mizuki, preparing his hands for a jutsu when he said, "Muten Roshi taught that the Kame style of martial arts is used to…"

_Flashback_

"…_master those arts for health in mind and body, for the ability to live one's life as courageously, uniquely, and energetically as one wishes. But! If there are any who seek to terrorize you or any other decent people with undeserved power, you must defeat such enemies with one mighty blast!" said Roshi to Goku looking dumbfounded."_

_End of Flashback_

Goku continued, "I will defeat you! Anything you throw at me I will give back times a thousand! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Then the most unexpected thing happened. Suddenly there was a thousand Goku's in the area. Mizuki and Iruka both had their jaws and eyes wide open in amazement. Mizuki, panicking, said, "What? How did he do this?"

"What's the matter, tough guy? Come and get me!" said one of the clones.

"You're going to kill me with one punch, right? Well, come on!" said another one.

Mizuki stood, about to pee his pants in fear, looking around for a way to escape when all the Gokus in the area said, "Well, then I'll just have to attack you!" As all of the Gokus went towards Mizuki to punch the living crap out of him, Mizuki let out a loud scream.

Iruka sat in amazement, thinking to himself, _Amazing! He not only generated a thousand shadow clones, but made them solid instead of shadowy illusion. That's highest caliber ninjutsu. I wouldn't be surprised if some day he really does turn to be better than any Hokage who's come before especially now with Roshi's training at his disposal._

Goku, after the living crap out of Mizuki, stood in front on his body with his hand scratching the back of his head and giving a big Son grin. "Heh…I guess I got carried away."

Iruka smiled and said, "Goku, come here. I've got a present for you. Close your eyes."

Goku walked up to Iruka with his eyes close. He felt something on his forehead but wasn't sure what it was. He asked Iruka, "Now, sensei, may I open my eyes?"

Iruka replied, "Yes, Goku. You can now open your eyes." When Goku opened his eyes, he say that Iruka didn't have his headband on. Goku always saw Iruka wearing the hirae-tai of the Leaf village and when suddenly realized something. "Congratulations Graduate!" yelled Iruka.

Goku was a bit at a loss of words, unsure if this was dream or not. Was this a joke? Is he really a shinobi? Iruka then said, "To celebrate this, I'll take you out. We can go for anything you want!" Goku couldn't hold back and started to cry with tears of joy as he went to hug Iruka.

Iruka was still in pain as he received the hug from Goku but he wasn't worried. This was a proud day for Goku. Iruka said to himself, _Now that you're a full-fledged shinobi, things will only get more difficult or at least, that's the speech I planned to give. But I guess, it can wait…until we get to the restaurant._

* * *

Author's note: Man, sorry for the long chapter. I wanted to fit in as much as possible and kinda of went over board. There may be chapters like this long or shorter depending on when I feel like finshing the chapter. Now, we finally learn about the newborn baby that is Goku with the seven-tailed dragon. If haven't gotten the hint about the dragon, don't worry, it will be explained in later chapters. By the way from now, Goku's tail will be out in the open since Iruka was able to accept Goku for what he is and shouldn't feel ashamed for having it out. Please leaving some comments and some constructive criticism if possible. Peace!


	5. The challenge of being in a team

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Goku had finally finished Muten Roshi's legendary training and had learn a few new moves such as the Kamehameha wave, impressing both Roshi and Iruka. However, it did not that Goku was easily going to become shinobi, he still need to pass the graduation exam. After trying three times and failing, Goku was willing to do anything when Mizuki told him about a shortcut. Little did he know that he stole a secret scroll that Mizuki was going to take for his own gain. Iruka was able to stop Mizuki from carrying out his plan but could not stop him from telling Goku the secret behind the events of the seven-tailed dragon's attack. Goku found out that he was the dragon demon and realized that everyone hated him for that reason. But Iruka brought him back to the light by saying how proud he was of him. Goku then was able to save Iruka's life and show off his new jutsu, the Multi-Shadow clone jutsu! Now a graduate, what awaits Goku as he heads into an unknown territory? Will he survive and come out on top or will he be held back? Find out next on Goku's New Adventure..._

* * *

Chapter 5: "The challenge of being in a team"

BEEP! BEEP!

Goku slammed the alarm clock. It was noise that he was trying to get familiar with. Usually he is up later, but today is a special day. Today is the day that the graduates are assigned to teams. Goku was super excited inside, but outside he was still trying to wake up. He was moving his half-asleep body around the apartment. He went to grab some food from the cupboard but found none. _Did I forget to buy groceries again?_ He thought. _Or was it because I was hungry last night? I can't remember. Oh well, I have to eat something._ He went to the fridge and found some milk. He smelt it, made sure that it wasn't bad. It didn't smell bad but doesn't mean it hasn't gone bad. After breakfast, Goku quickly changed into his regular clothes, with his hitai-ate tied with his white sash. He put on his boots and orange wristbands and made sure that his tail was ok. _Ok! Today is going to be a good day! I can't wait to meet some strong people!_ He said to himself as he went through the door and locked it behind him.

Goku wasn't ashamed anymore about his tail. After talking with Iruka-sensei and becoming a shinobi, Goku felt that he didn't need to hide it anymore. Even though he still got those hateful glares, most people assumed that the tail was just another prankster prop of Goku's. After all, he was known as the ultimate prankster of the Konohagakure.

Goku had arrived to the Ninja Academy. He was told to come to the classroom for team assignments but he came early to check out the competition. However, he wasn't the only one who had arrived early. Almost everyone from the graduating class had come earlier than he did. As he sat down, a lot of the kids in the class came up to him.

"Wait, what are you doing here Goku? You know that class today is only for students who didn't fail!" said one of the kids.

"Oh yeah! Can't you see the hitai-ate on my belt?" said Goku, pointing to his hitai-ate that was tied to his white sash.

"Man, that must be a fake. There is no way that they let you in…" said the other kid but he was interrupted when a loud "Ahem" was heard behind them. Goku and the kids looked at the direction of the "ahem" was coming from to see Haruno Sakura. She was a bit taller than Goku, sporting a red dress with blue boots. Her hair was long and pink. Sakura was walking towards Goku's direction, putting him on edge since he kinda of liked Sakura and was hoping that she wanted to next to him because of him but instead…

"Goku, move it! I'm trying to get around you!" yelled Sakura.

Goku was a bit curious to why Sakura wanted to move around him when turned around to see Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke was the class heart-throb. He had a fangirl following and seemed to didn't care not the least bit. Sasuske had a spiky black with his onyx-black colored eyes wearing a blue shirt that espoused on the back a picture of a fan. Goku wasn't sure what it meant but he was pissed because he thought that Sasuke thought himself as very cool. Goku hated him.

Sasuke noticed Goku's glare and asked, "You want something loser?"

Goku replied back with anger, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you talking to me?" Goku was about to punch the living daylights out of him when suddenly he was pushed down by Sakura. "Good morning, Sasuke. Is this seat taken?" Sasuke gave look like he didn't really care.

Sakura then sat between Goku and Sasuke. Sakura was in heaven. Sasuke didn't seem to care about anything. Goku was pissed. Goku thought to himself while looking at Sakura and Sasuke, _Sakura looks like she's total ecstasy. What is so great about Sasuke? I just don't get it! He doesn't seem very strong_.

Goku walked up to Sasuke and stood in front of him; knees bent a bit and looked at him straight into the eyes. Sparks began to fly between the two until suddenly, someone behind Goku pushed him forward and…

SMOOCH!

Goku and Sasuke had accidently kissed each other on the lips. The whole classroom was shell-shocked! The guys were vomiting in their mouths while the girls had their jaws wide open, realizing that Sasuke's first kiss was with…a boy, Goku no less. Both Goku and Sasuke were both spitting out and trying to forget what just happened. Sasuke yelled, "Goku, you piece of crap! You are dead!"

Goku yelled back with an insult, "Poison! My mouth is ruined!"

Goku sensed some bloodlust in the air and turned around to see Sakura, popping a few veins on her forehead. "Sorry Sakura! It was an accident!" Goku tried pleading, knowing that Sakura was going to kill him.

"Accident you say? You make me sick!" Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles. Goku knew full well on what was going to happen next.

After receiving a few deadly punches from Sakura, Iruka came into the classroom to explain on why everyone was there. "From this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full-fledged shinobi. But, among the ranks of the shinobi, you are mere novices, lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead." Iruka look towards Goku's direction and saw the boy covered in bruises from the beating he took from Sakura. Iruka smile and said to himself, _Making new friends as always eh Goku_. Iruka continued, "The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of the village. We will begin dividing you into three-man squads. Each of which will be monitored by a Jonin, who will guide and coach you as you become familiar with your various assignments."

Everyone looked around the room to see who they could be partnered with. All of the girls obviously wanted to be with Sasuke, who couldn't care less. While Goku looked around and said to himself, _So long as I'm partnered with Sakura, I'll take anybody else except for Sasuke._

Iruka let a loud cough to silence the room as he continued to say, "I made the selections so that each of the squad's abilities would be approximately equal. So let's start off shall we…"

_A few minutes later_

_Man I hope I get picked soon with Sakura_ said Goku to himself as he was trying to wait patiently for his turn. Iruka continued counting off the teams, "Squad 7. Haruno Sakura. Son Goku…" Once they heard it, Sakura got depressed and Goku went cheering until, "and Uchiha Sasuke." Now it was vice-versa, Sakura cheering and Goku depressed.

"Iruka-sensei! What were you thinking of, saddling a most excellent shinobi like myself with that loser?" screamed Goku as he pointed to Sasuke, unaware of the growing bloodlust that Sakura was giving off.

Iruka responsed, "Of the twenty-seven of you, Sasuke has the best grades, Goku. You would be the bottom of the class. The idea is to balance your different strengths…that's why you ended up together!"

Goku still pissed that he was paired with Sasuke that when he spoke, "Just don't drag me down loser." That comment hit one of Goku's nerves that he almost went and punched Sasuke but Sakura intervened. Iruka looking at them, sighed and thought to himself, _Aww…They'll work it out. Even Goku_. "Ok, everyone. I'll be introducing your Jonin instructors this afternoon. You are dismissed."

* * *

_Later in the afternoon_

Goku, Sakura and Sasuke were the only ones left in the classroom. Everyone had their Jonin sensei pick them up except for squad 7. All of three were waiting patiently for their sensei until finally Goku got an idea.

"Goku, what are you doing?" Sakura asked.

Goku grinned mischievously as he began placing an eraser between the crack so that when the door opened, it would fall on top of the person's head. "It's what he gets for making us wait so long!" said Goku as he was walking away.

"Hmmf. No way could a jonin be caught by such a simple booby trap." Said Sasuke coolly. But sure enough it did happen.

A tall jonin man with white hair opened the door and the eraser fell on top of him. This man had his hitai-tae twisted, covering his left eye. He wore the standard jonin uniform with the green vest. As soon as the eraser fell on top of him, Goku laughed. This man looked at the eraser and then to the kids and smiled at them. He said, "Hmm…how shall I put this? Based on my first impression, I'd have to say…I hate you!" As soon as he said that, everything in room felt gloomy. This man later told everyone to meet at the rooftop.

At the rooftop, everyone was sitting in a circle with the older man sitting on top of a railing. He started to speak, "Now, I'd like you all to tell us a little about yourselves."

"Like what?" Goku asked.

The man replied, "You know. The usual. Your favorite thing…what you hate most…dreams, ambitions, hobbies. Things like that."

Goku, looking dumbfounded, had to ask, "Help us out here, coach. You go first. Show us how it's done especially since you are a complete stranger to us."

"That's right. A mystery!" continued Sakura.

The man looked a little surprised but continued, "Oh…me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes. My dreams for the future are none of your business. But anyway, I have lots of hobbies."

Sakura looked at the group and said, "Hey…he said a lot…but all we really learned was his name."

"Now, it's your turn. Starting with you on the left," said Kakashi as he was pointing to Goku for him to start.

Goku, with a smile, started to talk, "Me, right! My name is Son Goku! What I like is all kinds of food especially ramen. What I like even better is when Iruka-sensei treats me to ramen at the Ichiraku's noodle shop. What I hate is the lack of food sometimes restaurants carry when I go to eat. My dream is to one day be a better shinobi than Lord Hokage and become the greatest Hokage and then all the villagers will have to acknowledge my existence at last!"

_Very interesting. Although he did talk lot about food, _Kakashi said to himself. "Alright, next."

This time it was Sasuke's turn as he started to talk, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are plenty of things that I hate but I don't see that it matters, considering there is almost nothing I do like. It seems pointless to talk about 'dreams'…that's just a word, I believe. But what I do have is determination. I plan to restore my clan. And there's someone I have sworn to kill." The air turned tensed after Sasuke said that. Goku hoped it wasn't him but looked at Kakashi and felt like he knew what Sasuke was talking about.

"And finally the young lady," spoke Kakashi as he looked at Sakura's direction.

Sakura started to blush when she spoke, "I am Haruno Sakura. My likes are . . ." She blushed when she turned to a disinterested Sasuke. "My dislikes are Goku." Her tone turned harsh when she said that. "My hobbies are . . ." She blushed and looked at Sasuke again. "And my goals for the future are . . ." She kept on looking at Sasuke.

_Man, this girl is more interested in boys than in jutsu,_ thought Kakashi. "Enough," Kakashi spoke as all three shinobi turned their heads towards him, "I believe we all understand one another. Formal training begins tomorrow."

Goku, excited at the prospect of a mission to test his skills, said happily, "Yes, sir! What will our first shinobi entail?"

Kakashi spoke with a calm voice, "Our first project involves only the members of this squad." Everyone was looking a little bit dumbfounded on this meant. "What is it?" asked Sakura.

"Survival exercises," said Kakashi.

"Didn't we do at the academy," said Sasuke.

"But you'll have to survive against me. It won't be your typical practice," spoke Kakashi in a calm voice.

"What kind of practice will it be?" asked Goku when Kakashi started to laugh. "What?" asked Goku.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you might chicken out." Said Kakashi with a hidden grin.

"Why would we chicken out?" said Sasuke in a calm and anxious voice.

Kakashi then spoke with a very serious face to the three shinobi, "Of the twenty-seven members of your graduating class, only nine will actually be accepted as genin. The other eighteen must go back to the academy for more training. The test we are about to perform has a 66% rate of failure."

Once Kakashi finished talking, the tension was in the air again. Everyone was silent until finally Goku spoke, "Then why the hell did we have to take the graduation exam?"

Kakashi replied with a calm voice, "Oh! We wanted to eliminate all the hopeless cases from your ranks. The ones who are left are the only students who show true potential. In any event, we will meet tomorrow morning on the practice field so that I can evaluate each of your skills and weaknesses. Bring all of your ninja tools and weapons." Everyone started to head their separate ways until Kakashi said, "And don't forget to not eat breakfast before-hand…unless you enjoy throwing up."

That last comment threw a dagger into Goku. How can he not eat beforehand? Didn't Kakashi know that he had to eat something? This was a throwing a loop to Goku's head as he was going to try to figure out how to defeat Kakashi and make sure he stays a shinobi. He worked too hard for this chance and he won't let a stupid test stop him now.

* * *

_The next day_

"Good morning, class!" Kakashi happily said as the three shinobi looked at him with Goku and Sakura screaming at him, "You're late!" The reason was because three of them had gotten to the appointed location around 7 in the morning and now it was 10 in the morning. All three of them were hungry with Goku's stomach rumbling the loudest. But that didn't stop Goku's determination from passing this test.

Kakashi then set down a timer on a stump, pulled out two bells and said, "I've set this alarm to go off at noon. I have here two small bells…" showing the two bells at the three of them, "Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you will be tied to that tree stump, so I can your lunch in front of you."

All three of them said to themselves, _So that's why you wanted us to go without breakfast!_ Each of their stomachs rumbled but Goku's was the loudest. Kakashi, not paying attention to the rumbling, continued to speak, "All you need is just one bell…a piece. But since there aren't enough to go around, one of you is definitely headed for the stump. And whoever that is will be the first of you to fail. One of you is on your way back to school and disgrace. You may, if you choose, use shuriken. Attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance."

Goku, who blinked to make sure he heard right of maybe killing Kakashi, said to Kakashi, "But sensei, my Kame training has told me not to kill anyone without a reason. Muten Roshi taught me to use my skills when someone is in danger."

Kakashi replied, "That is true, but let's say that I am going to kill one of you. Would that help?"

"Well no, but…" Goku started to trail off in his words when Kakashi interrupted him by saying, "Besides the Kame style of martial arts is a dead study. Muten Roshi has lost his touch."

That last comment pinched a nerve with Goku as he didn't like for someone to make fun of him, much less than his teacher, Roshi-sensei whom he held great respect even though he is a pervert. Goku took out a kunai from his holster from his right leg and swung at Kakashi. But before he realized it, Kakashi had come from behind and held the kunai at the back of Goku's head. Everyone was amazed at his speed including Sasuke.

Kakashi, holding the kunai and Goku's head in place, said, "Not so fast. I didn't say 'go.' But at least you struck to kill so it seems you have begun to respect me. Just maybe, I'm starting to like you three. And now, steady, go!" At that last command, everyone spreaded out in the training area with Kakashi left in the middle.

There was silence. Kakashi then spoke while looking around to see if he could find them, "The basis of all shinobi arts is to become invisible…eradicate yourself." But at long last, there appeared a shadow to challenge him…Goku.

Kakashi was scratching his head at the dumb decision that Goku made. Goke, meanwhile said to Kakashi, "Sensei, I want to make this an enjoyable fight. It will be a great match!" He laughed proudly, with the other two looking at him, thinking that he is an idiot.

Goku charged forward and when Kakashi started to pull something from his pocket, he retreated. "Let me teach you the first shinobi battle skill! Taijutsu, hand-to-hand combat!" When he pulled his hand out of his pocket, out came a book. It was the _Make-Out Paradise_ book. Goku looked confused. "Is something wrong? I thought you were coming for me," said Kakashi calmly, without a care in the world.

Goku was surprised and remember that Roshi had the same books back at the Kame house. But still, why would Kakashi pull something out like that? He asked Kakashi, "Why are you reading a book?"

Kakashi replied while reading the book, "I've been dying to find out how this story ends. Carry on. Like it shouldn't make any difference in the outcome, considering who I'm up against."

Goku then got pissed and charged forward, aiming his punch with his right hand towards Kakashi's head. Kakashi blocked it without even looking. Then Goku went for a roundhouse kick, only for Kakashi to duck. He tried to trip Kakashi, this time though he jumped and Goku completely missed. Goku, letting his emotions get the better of him, tried for a full frontal punch. Only Kakashi disappeared. Goku looked around for him to discover that Kakashi was right behind him. Goku was trying to figure out how did that happened when he heard Sakura scream, "Look out Goku! He has performed a hand sign! You will be killed!"

"What?"

"Too late," said Kakashi as he was going to use the sign of flame to push Goku off. Goku looked behind and saw it. In the few seconds before Kakashi hit, Goku tried to think of a way to get out. He cleared his mind and suddenly he vanished. Kakashi had missed using Konohagakure village's most secret and most sacred technique, one thousand years of death! Everyone was surprised including Kakashi. They had thought that Goku would be hit. Kakashi realized it then and saw Goku behind him, panting a bit.

"I see. You had expelled a bit of your ki to increase your speed. It seems like your training with Muten Roshi wasn't a total waste of time," spoke Kakashi as he got up from his knees.

"Dammit!" screamed Goku as he sat down on the ground. Everyone was curious to why he sat when he started to take off his boots. Kakashi then saw and heard the thud when the boots hit the ground. _So he was wearing weighted boots, _said Kakashi to himself._ As expected from the Turtle Hermit. Do all of the training with weighted gear. I heard from Iruka that Goku trained the last few months with 60 kilogram turtle shell during his routines. That training is tough. I was able to survive three months before quitting. This kid has a lot of potential. _

Goku then took off his weighted wristbands and let out big sigh. "Now that cares of it. I wanted to use my full power to show you my determination," said Goku as the two others look on. Sasuke was surprised that Goku was wearing weighted clothing as if it was nothing and began to wonder how strong Goku really was. However, he still believed that he was much stronger than Goku. He would just have to amp up his training. Sakura, on the other hand, was completely surprised. She had thought Goku was weaker than her and was able to pass the exam by sheer luck. But once she saw him take off his weighted clothing, her opinion of him changed a bit. Sure he was still annoying but maybe he was strong.

Kakashi looked at Goku and decided to put away his _Make out Paradise_ book, thinking that this was going to be more than he thought. Goku grinned when he saw Kakashi put away his book and said, "So are you ready to take me seriously that you put away your book?"

Kakashi grinned slightly behind his mask and said, "Maybe. Or maybe I just didn't want to ruin my book before I even get to finish it."

"Well, I'll make sure that you don't read it right now because I am going to go full power," said Goku as he started to accumulate his ki. "HAAA!" screamed Goku as he focused more of his ki and a blue flame started to form around his body. But it wasn't very big like Muten Roshi's or even bright. You could see it up close but from a distance, nothing. Goku had begun to tap into his ki reserves and this was only the beginning. Kakashi knew this as well since he had seen ki before especially with the Fourth Hokage and knew how to deal with it. He also knew that Goku was going to get stronger but not by much. However, it didn't mean that Goku was no threat at all. He just had to be prepared for anything.

"Alright I'm ready,"as Goku finished accumulating, go into his sprinter's stance and charged forward to attack Kakashi, leaving dust on his trail. His speed surprised both Sasuke and Sakura since it was fast. Kakashi was ready for the blow as he blocked the punch with both his hands. However, because of the force behind the punch, he was pushed back a bit. Goku reached for a kick to knock Kakashi off his feet but was dodged. Goku tried to go for an uppercut with his right hand, only to have it blocked with the left hand. Then using his left hand, Goku reached for the bells before Kakashi blocked the hand from reaching it. The two of them then exchanged a few fists and kicks until they separated from each other. Both Sakura and Sasuke were amazed at the speed of this fight and how Goku can keep up with Kakashi. Sakura thought that maybe Goku will be able to get one of the bells. But Sasuke realized that Goku doesn't have much time left. He looked like he was running out of breath. And it was true. Goku was taking into account his ki level as he felt it was dropping. _Dammit,_ Goku said to himself, _if I wasn't so hungry, I probably could have gotten one of those bells already._ His stomach let out a loud roar and Goku blushed a bit.

"Goku, I know that you don't have much time left. You seem out of breath. I feel your ki weakening. Is it because of missing breakfast?" said Kakashi.

"Heh, I know that. But, I will use my remaining energy to get one of the bells. I am going to use two of my ultimate techniques!" yelled Goku as he prepared for his hand signs for the correct jutsu. He yelled, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Eight Gokus then appeared out of thin air, surprising everyone including Kakashi. "So these clones are not illusions but real bodies! Impressive, but it still won't help you. You won't be able to keep this up for another minute," said Kakashi as he charged forward to defeat the clones and the real one as well.

As he charged into the fray, Kakashi realized something that was amiss. The clones weren't trying to attack but to grab him. But for what? At that moment, one of the clones grabbed him from behind his back. "Nice to see your back, sensei!" Goku said while grinning.

"You know that this won't hold me for long right…" spoke Kakashi as he was interrupted by a voice, "KA…ME…" Kakashi looked in front of him and saw Goku in stance position with his knees bent, hands forming a cupped shape taken to his side. Kakashi realized what it was when a blue orb started to form in Goku's hands as he finished the chanting, "HA…ME…HA!" Goku shot forward the blue orb and let out beam from his hands towards Kakashi. Everyone was surprised at this new technique with Kakashi about to take the full force.

BOOM!

A big explosion occurred with the trees bent and a draft blowing away from the blast. Goku, still in the same position panting heavily, knew that if Kakashi had survived that blast, it would be over. Once the smoke clear out, no one was there except for a burnt log and a bell. Goku knew that he won and went over to pick up the bell. Both Sasuke and Sakura were amazed at Goku's skills. Sasuke was a bit pissed that Goku's strength but still believed himself stronger than Goku. While Goku went to pick up the bell, Sasuke realized something that had been missing. _Why was there a log where a body should be unless_…Sasuke thought to himself as he turned and saw, _it was a trap_. And sure enough, the trap was sprung. Goku was being held by a rope hanging upside down. "Hey, what is the meaning of this?"

"You fell for my trap," said Kakashi as he came down unharmed and without a scratch. "But I hit you with a powerful Kamehameha wave!" yelled Goku.

"You did, but I used the substitution jutsu to escape from it, using two of your clones to take the blow. Though you fell for an obvious trap, I am impressed that you were able to master some ki techniques especially the Kamehameha wave," said Kakashi as Goku tried to pay attention but kept dozing off. "But right now, you must be exhausted and…" Goku passed out from the exhaustion of energy and not hearing the end of Kakashi's lecture.

* * *

_A few minutes later_

Goku woke up and found himself tied to one of the tree stumps. He tried to move but had no strength. He looked around and saw both Sasuke and Sakura a bit hurt and without the bells. Kakashi was standing in front of them. Goku asked Kakashi, "What the hell is going? And why am I tied to a tree stump?"

"Because Goku," spoke Kakashi, "You used your energy too quickly without even thinking of retreating. You also took the obvious trap laid out by me. A shinobi must see through the deception. Sakura was caught in a genjutsu but still had some energy for a retreat and Sasuke did the same thing even though, he fought very well just like you using some amazing jutsu. However, because you used up all of your energy, you passed out and failed," Goku interrupted Kakashi and said, "But I never go into a battle without using all of power."

"If this were a real battle, you would have been the first casualty. A shinobi must know himself as well as his enemy. If your enemy sees you running low on energy, he will try to force you to use it, making you more venerable to attack."

Goku stayed silent as his stomach did the talking as well as Sasuke's and Sakura's.

"Oh, my. Listen to all the little stomachs growl!" But as he said this, Goku's stomach growled the loudest making him blush and use his Son grin. Kakashi stood amazed for a sec but continued, "I have an announcement about this exercise. None of you need worry any more about being sent back to the Ninja Academy."

"Really, we passed?" said both Goku and Sakura.

"No, it means all three of you are hopeless. More schooling would be pointless. None of you will ever be shinobi!"

"What?" said all three together.

"Give it up. Not one of the three of you will ever be a shinobi!" said Kakashi with a very serious face.

"What do you mean give up?" yelled Goku.

"Give me a break! Okay, so maybe none of us got our hands on one of your stupid bells but why the heck should we quit over that?" yelled Sakura.

Kakashi replied, "It's simple. Because not one of you has what it takes!"

This pissed Sasuke off as he went straight for the kill on Kakashi. However, Kakashi got the upperhand and sat on top of him and said, "What you are is a trio of spoiled brats."

"Get off of Sasuke!" screamed Sakura.

Kakashi then looked at them both and said, "Are you trying to make fun of the shinobi with your behavior? Well, are you? Did you even stop to wonder for one minute why you were divided into teams?"

Both Goku and Sakura were a little confused and dumbfounded when Kakashi stared to talk again, "Obviously not. So you missed the entire point of the exercise."

Goku, twisting a bit his head in confusion, asked, "This had a point?"

"Of course. And that point determines whether or not you would succeed," said Kakashi calmly.

Sakura, as confused as Goku, asked, "But, you haven't explained what it is!"

Kakashi chuckled, "I can't believe this. It is so simple."

"What is?"

"Teamwork!" spoke Kakashi with a very serious face and tone as he continued, "If the three of you had come at me together you might have been able to take the bells."

"But wait a minute…" said Sakura, "If we were expected to function as a team, why did you only have two bells? Even if we'd worked together one of us still would have had to go without lunch. You're preaching teamwork, but you played us against each other."

Kakashi looked at the group before speaking again, "Of course. This task was designed to cause dissension in your ranks. The situation was set up to reveal which of you would set aside your individual interests and propose to the others you work together for the good of all. Instead of which…" Kakashi looked at Sakura then to the rest of the group, "…you, Sakura, ignored Goku, who was right in front of you while you focused your attention on Sasuke, though you didn't know where he was. Goku tried to do single-handedly what should have been the work of all three! And Sasuke had already decided that the other two just got in his way and he was better off playing solo. You are a team! Learn to act as one! Yes, it's necessary for ninja to have individual skills, but what is even more important now is teamwork! Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You might as well kill them yourself. Here's an example of what I mean," Kakashi then grabbed a kunai from his holster and placed it on Sasuke's neck and said, "…Sakura! Kill Goku or Sasuke dies!"

"What?" both screamed.

Kakashi got off of Sasuke and put away his kunai blade as he spoke, "The day could come when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice. When you are on a mission, your lives will always be on the line." All three of them continued to look at Kakashi as he walked towards a memorial stone. He spoke, "Look at the marker…all the names carved in the stone. Heroes of our village. True shinobi."

Goku flinched and excitedly said, "That's it! That's where I want my name to go! I'm not gonna throw my life away! I want to be like them – a hero!"

Kakashi then looked at Goku with a bit of sadness behind his tone, "But the ones listed there aren't just any heroes…"

"Really? What kind of heroes are they?" said Goku.

"The dead kind. They died in the line of duty," said Kakashi. Immediately, Goku's face went from excited to sad, realizing that he didn't want to end up like them. Kakashi continued to speak, "This is a memorial. It includes the name of my best friend."

Kakashi then turned around towards the three and said, "Pay attention! I'm giving you all one last chance. One that will be far more difficult than our last little game with the bells. If you are prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes that I have brought along. However, no one is to share with Goku. He goes hungry."

"Why?" asked Sakura.

"As I explained before, Goku went full powered without realizing his fatigue level and passed out in front of the enemy. As punishment, he will go hungry. If either of you feeds him, you fail the test right there," spoke Kakashi as he walked forward but then with very tense face and serious tone said, "Remember that my word is law. Do you understand?"

All three of them nodded as Kakashi disappeared.

While Sakura and Sasuke were eating, Goku's stomach kept rumbling even louder. Goku tried to shake it off by laughing by it was no use. He was going to starve until the unthinkable happened…

"Here," said Sasuke as he giving some of his leftovers to Goku.

Sakura, hysterically, said, "But Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei told us not…"

"I'm not worried," said Sasuke, "He's probably miles away by now. And we'll all need our strength if we're going to work together to get those bells." He then looked at Goku and said, "Eat up. You are no good to me if you are going to be a liability." Goku was surprised. Sasuke never did this and then suddenly Sakura did the same thing as well. Goku was happy to have such great teammates.

Suddenly, a big explosion happened in front of them. "You…" Kakashi come out of the smoke, pissed as ever. All three of them prepared for the blow until "…Pass!"

"Huh?" All three went.

"You pass. You three have just taken a giant step forward," said Kakashi with a smile.

"We pass? How?" Sakura asked.

"Up until now, all any of you have done is listen unquestioningly to everything I say like mindless, little drones. A true shinobi seeks for the hidden meanings within hidden meanings. In a ninja's world, those who violate and fail to follow orders are lower than garbage. However, those who do not care for and support their comrades are worse than scum!"

_Wow, that speech was kind of cool_, thought Goku.

Kakashi then said, " This exercise is now concluded. You all pass! That's all for today, Squad seven. Your duties will commence tomorrow!"

"Alright I'm ninja! I did it!... Hey guys? I'm still tied up here?" Goku yelled as the others packed up their things and went on ahead home, leaving poor Goku still tied up.

* * *

Author's note: Another long chapter. I think this one though kind of deserved it. I hope I did the fight scene some justice. If not, that's ok. There is room for improvement. As you can see, Goku will be able to use more ki later in the series but for right now, using the kamehameha wave expels a lot of his energy. The reason that Kakashi put Goku on the stomp, I think was a good ninja reason. I mean, you don't want to go into a fight using all your strength and then pass out for the enemy to do an easy kill. Shinobi are better than that I believe, so I think if they need to retreat, then they would have energy reserves. Please leave some reviews! I would greatly appreciate it. Peace!


	6. The Worst Client

Disclaimer: I do not own (I wish) Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Goku finally has become a shinobi. He is one step closer to his dream of becoming Hokage. Now he has to been assigned to a team with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Right off the bat, Goku and Sasuke don't get along at all. They get to meet their jonin sensei, Hatake Kakashi. After talking about their hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, Kakashi assigns the team a mission: a survival test against the sensei himself and steal two bells. As they started the mission, Goku decided to fight, for the thrill of it, especially since Kakashi was stronger than him. Goku tried to steal one of the bells but had to use some the skills that he had learned with Muten Roshi. Goku decided to go all out, taking off his weighted clothes and pushing ki to the max as much as he could. However, because he hadn't eaten breakfast, Goku's ki started to drop and had to use the rest of it in his two favorite techniques, the Shadow clone jutsu and the Kamehameha wave. However, he was unsuccessful and passed out. When came to, he found himself tied to a stump as the team didn't realize the point of the mission which was teamwork. After giving lunch to Sasuke and Sakura, Kakashi leaves to give another shot to the squad. Goku is still hungry and the rest of the team decides to give their food to Goku so he can get his strength back. As a result, Kakashi passes them and they become Team seven. What adventures await our hero and his team? Find out on Goku's New Adventure..._

* * *

Chapter 6: "The Worst Client"

"How far is the target?" said Kakashi as he spoke into the radio.

"Five meters and closing!" spoke Sakura on the radio.

"I'm in position," said Sasuke.

"So am I," replied Goku on the radio.

"Alright then…Go!" spoke Kakashi as he gave the signal to attack. All at once, team 7 came out from the shadows and attacked the mysterious figure. It turned out to be a cat that had escaped from its owner.

As Goku grabbed the cat and was mauled by its claws, Kakashi spoke on the radio, "Remember. Our target has a ribbon on its right ear that says 'tiger'…make sure there's no mistake."

Sasuke looks at the cat as it had clawed off half of Goku's face and replies, "Target confirmed."

"Good! Then mission: find the missing pet is complete!" spoke Kakashi on the radio as team seven headed to the Hokage office to turn in the cat back to its owner.

As they got back, the cat had gotten mauled by its owner, Lady Shijimi, who absolutely loves her pet cat. She hugs it like there is no tomorrow and though she seemed to enjoyed it, the cat didn't think so. "Poor tiger," said Lady Shijimi as she continued to smother the cat, "I was so worried about you, I could have died!"

Team seven looked at the 'happy' couple and felt bad for the cat. _Oh man! What a nightmare, _thought Goku as he pitied the cat, _How does that poor cat put with it? With that to look forward to at home, can blame him for running away?_ The rest of the team had similar thoughts. Well, maybe except Sasuke, who began to thought that these missions were getting really lame and weren't testing his skills as he had hopped.

"Now, for the next assignment," spoke the Third Hokage, looking at a list of mission to give, "Hmm…to babysit for the council of elders…to run errands to the neighboring village…to help dig sweet potatoes….."

As Sarutobi continued through the list, he was interrupted by Goku, "No way! I want a real mission! Something with at least some strong opponents! I want to be able to show my skills."

The rest of team seven looked at Goku and each shared a different, well maybe between Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke was agreeing with Goku that he had a point. He also wanted a mission to test his limits. Sakura, on the other hand, was getting annoyed by Goku's rants. He was going to get them into trouble…again.

"Don't be an idiot!" yelled Iruka as he got up from his chair next to the Hokage, "You are only starting out! Everyone starts doing grunt work. It's where you get experience so you can work your way up to the bigger things."

"Well, I want some action. My skills will drop if I don't fight someone strong," yelled back Goku as he was knocked in the head by Kakashi.

"Apparently Goku needs an explanation of just what these duties are…" explain the Third Hokage, "You see, every day, our village receives many requests for everything from babysitters to assignation. We take that tremendous variety and sort them into categories from A to D, based on the degree of skill they require. We have also divided the shinobi into classes based on the level of their skills. After we of the upper echelon have sorted all the requests, we distribute them to those ninja with the appropriate skill level. And if the ninja in question completes those duties successfully, then the grateful person he has helped pays him a fee. Thus far, the three of you have only just attained the lowest rank, level D tasks are the best you could aspire to."

As the Hokage finished, he looked at Goku to see if he understood. The Hokage stared at him for a while as he saw a drool from his mouth. The Hokage angrily yells, "Were you even listening?"

"Well…not really. I couldn't understand anything so I was thinking of what I was going to get for lunch," said Goku with a straight face as he was hit in the head again by Kakashi and this time, Sakura. "But anyways, besides of just said, I still want a real ninja mission!" As he looked at the Hokage, he said, "You still think of me as the troublemaker screw-up! I want just to prove that I am not that kid anymore!"

The Hokage then smiled and said, "Very well, since you put it that way…I will permit you to attempt a C grade task that is usually given for Chunin-level shinobi since you all seem to desperately want a higher ranked mission. This mission entails the protection of a certain individual…"

"Who is it? A princess?" interrupted Goku.

"Compose yourself. I'll perform the introductions straightway," smiled the Hokage as he waved his hand, "Please let him in…"

As the door opened, the sound and smell of alcohol came through the door as an old man walked through and spoke, "What's going on here?" He carried a large backpack and wearing a rope tied around his head, with a bottle of sake in one of his hands. He looked at Team seven and said, "They look like a bunch of we-nosed brats. Especially, the midget. He's got the face of an imbecile. It's a joke right? You kids aren't really ninja, are you?"

Goku replied, "Who'd you mean? Which midget? Which imbeci…" as he realized that he was the shortest one in the group. It hit hard and got him pissed as he tried to attack the old man, but Kakashi held him back as he said, "I'll kill him!"

"Wrong. No killing the old man that you have been assigned to protect," said Kakashi as he tried to hold Goku in. Goku was about to break free until Kakashi grabbed his tail and Goku went down. Everyone was surprised that Kakashi was able to calm Goku down. Sakura especially wanted to know how Kakashi did it since she thought of him as extremely annoying.

The old man continued to talk, "I am Tazuna, a bridge builder of ultimate renown. And until I am safely back in my own country, where I'll be completing my next bridge, you will all be expected to protect me even if it costs you your lives!"

"Well then, we got our mission, so team, prepare your things and meet at the gates in one hour," said Kakashi as he let Goku's tail go.

"Got it!" yelled all three with Goku still nursing his tail, making sure that the other two didn't notice it.

* * *

_Later at the gates of Konohagakure_

"All right! Road trip!" yelled Goku as all of Team seven gathered with Tazuna in front of the gates. "I can't wait to get going. I hope I get to fight some strong opponents!"

Sakura then knocks Goku on his head, yelling, "Dumbass! Don't try to jinx the mission!" Sakura was obviously panicking. She didn't want to fight anyone much less ninja. She just wanted to end the mission and try to ask Sasuke on a date.

Kakashi placed his hand on Sakura's shoulders, reassuring her, "Don't worry. You won't face any duels with ninja from other clans while you are handling C-level duties."

"Well, I don't feel safe placing my hopes on these kids, especially the fool with a fake tail!" said Tazuna as he was pointing to Goku. A few nerves popped from Goku's head as he heard that comment.

"There is no need for concern. I'm a jounin, an elite ninja and I'll be along too," said Kakashi with a smile underneath his mask.

_This guy has got to be the worst client in the history of our village_, thought Goku, _and I am not gonna let him give me any crap, especially about my tail!_

"Listen old man! You don't mess with ninja ever. Especially with one like me because one day I am gonna be the next Hokage! Believe it! So remember the name Son Goku!" yelled Goku as he pointed to Tazuna with anger.

Tazuna took a sip from his sake bottle and replied to Goku's comments, "Hokage eh? The best in your village right? I don't think someone like you has it in him."

Goku was pissed. No one can make fun of his dream. He yelled back, "Well, you are old and stupid! And when I become Hokage, you are gonna wish you were a lot more respectful to me right now!"

Tazuna took a few more sips before he said, "Respect you? I don't think so. Not even if you did become Hokage."

Goku got even angrier as he tried to punch Tazuna again but was stopped by Kakashi again through the same method as before to calm Goku down. However, in the shadows, there lied two mysterious figures, waiting for their opportunity to strike.

* * *

_A few minutes later_

As everyone was walking down the path, Sakura looked at Tazuna and asked, "Um, Mr. Tazuna, you come from the land of the waves right?"

Tazuna looked at Sakura and replied, "Yeah, what of it?"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, "Are there ninja in that country too?"

Kakashi the scarecrow answered, "No. Not in the land of the waves. But, as a general rule, even with all the differences that exist in local customs and cultures, most other lands have their own hidden village where a ninja clan resides. For most of the countries on this continent, the ninja villages serve as the military force. They protect their own people and handle the ongoing relations with neighboring countries. Yet, the villages do not answer to the rulers of their native countries. Instead, they are on an equal footing with the government. In the case of very small island nations where an invasion would be difficult to mount, a ninja village is regarded as unnecessary. Among the various ninja villages, in particular, those located in the lands of Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Suna and Iwa are large and their strength immense. Those are known as the Five Great Nations. They are also the only places where the shinobi leaders calls himself a Kage. There is a Kage in each of the Five Great Nations. There is the Hokage, the Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage. All of them the ultimate commanders of all of the tens of thousands of shinobi throughout the world."

All of team seven were amazed to what Kakashi had said. Sakura was the first one to speak, "Really? The Hokage is so amazing!"

"You obviously don't really think so," replied Kakashi as he noticed all three had flinched when he said. However, as he was talking, he noticed a puddle of water and walked by it. But once everyone, passed by it, two shinobi emerged from the water, read y to strike. The first one to go was Kakashi as the two mysterious shinobi came around Kakashi with their chain mail and grabbed him. Everyone turned around to see Kakashi get sliced into pieces. Everyone stood shocked.

"Kakashi-sensei!" screamed Goku and Sakura as the two enemy ninja came back around, but this time to Goku. Goku looked at them in the face and froze. This was his opportunity to shine, but couldn't move. He was about to die here.

Meanwhile though, Sasuke moved, took two shuriken and attached the chainmail to the bark of the tree. Then with a kunai, placed it on the shuriken to secure the hold on the bark. The arms of the ninja stopped, being pulled back by the held chainmail. Sasuke then landed on the arms of the ninja and gave them a swift kick to the face, making them fall backwards. To avoid having their arm pulled out of their body, the two ninja at the same time, let go of the chainmail from their weaponized arm. The two of them went their separate paths to attack: one towards Goku and the other towards the other two, Tazuna and Sakura. As one of them tried to attack a frozen Goku, Sakura blinked and stood in front of Tazuna to protect him from the incoming attack. Sakura was sacred and thought she was going to be killed but Sasuke fazed out from where he was before and fazed in front her, this time to protect her from the incoming attack.

However, the attacked stopped when an arm came out of nowhere to chokehold the enemy ninja as he carried the other one in the same position. Everyone looked up and saw Kakashi, alive and without a scratch. Goku was surprised to see his sensei alive, Sakura was happy that he was alive, while Sasuke thought he was a show off. Goku then look at the spot where Kakashi once stood before chopped into pieces and saw pieces of chopped wood. Goku realized that he had used the substitution jutsu.

As everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Kakashi spoke, "I'm sorry, Goku. I should have moved to help you sooner before you were injured. It never occurred to me that you would freeze up." Kakashi walked over to the group and said to Sasuke, "Good job, Sasuke."

Goku still stood there, trying to figure out what happened and why couldn't he move as he spoke to himself, _I couldn't do a single thing! But Sasuke, who's never been in a real battle before acted like it was no big deal. He didn't even break a sweat. How strong he is?_

As Goku continued to look at Sasuke, trying to answer his own questions, Sasuke looked back right at him and said, "Hey…you're not hurt, you little cry-baby?"

Goku got pissed and was about to punch Sasuke for that comment but Kakashi yelled to Goku, "Goku! Don't move! This not the time to be fighting! Their claws were poisoned. We have to clean that wound as soon as possible. If we cut it open more deeply, the blood flow will wash the poison away. For now, keep as still as possible, so the poison doesn't spread."

As Goku looked at his wounded hand in disgust, Kakashi then looked at Tazuna as he began to tie the enemy ninja to the tree and spoke, "Mr. Tazuna, I need to speak with you." Tazuna complied and walked towards Kakashi as he continued to speak, "Our attackers were chunin from Kirigakure. They are shinobi renowned for their willingness to fight on until their goal is achieved, even at the cost of their lives. Obviously, they were watching and waiting for us."

"Wait, how did you know?" said one of the enemy ninja.

"The sun is out, and it hasn't rained for several days so there shouldn't have been any puddles on the ground," replied Kakashi.

Tazuna, surprised that Kakashi knew they were going to attack, asked, "If you knew all that, why did you even let those creeps attack you?"

Kakashi answered, "I could have killed them at any time but, I wanted to find out who their real target was."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" said Tazuna.

"Were you really the one they were after?" asked Kakashi, "Or was it one of us ninja? There has been no word of any shinobi seeking to take your life. The request that was relayed to the Hokage was that you have an escort to protect you against any roving bands of thieves and brigands. In any case, it's clear this is more than a 'B' rank mission. To protect you from ordinary dangers until you complete the bridge you are currently constructing would be a simple thing," said Kakashi as he saw Tazuna look down but he continued, "But if you expected to be the target of a ninja assault then it is beyond question that this would been classified and priced as a mission for jonin. You may have had your reasons, but it is never a good idea to conceal the facts when you are asking for help. As it is, this task falls far beyond the boundaries of the job we were assigned."

"We are not good yet to handle something like this?" interjected Sakura. "We are just genin. Besides we will need an anesthetic for Goku's wound before we can re-open it and drain the poison. Should we head back to the village?"

Kakashi thought for a bit before speaking, "This is complicated. Do we go back now so we can make certain Goku receives medical attention?"

Goku, pissed, does something unexpected. He pulls out a kunai and stabs his wound with it, opening it and spewing out the poison. _Why am I always so different?_ Thought Goku, _I hate not fitting in! By now, I should be strong especially with Roshi sensei's training. But I blew it! I froze! I swear, no one's ever gonna have to save my life again. I am not going to be the one who hangs back or freezes up and I am not gonna be especially outdone by Sasuke! I swear it, by the pain in my left hand_.

"With this kunai, I promise," said Goku as everyone stood there astonished, "that I will protect you old man. I swear!"

"Goku…" spoke Kakashi as everyone stood slient, "We needed a free flow of blood to the clean the poison from your wound, but you have exceeded the need." Goku froze, without realizing it, he could bleed to death.

"No! I don't want to die! I need some blood! Wait, no I don't want any needles! Please save me Kakashi-sensei!" yelled a panicked Goku.

Kakashi let out a sigh and walked towards Goku and said, "Show me your hand."

Goku showed his hand to Kakashi, but as Kakashi looked at the wound and started to bandage it, something was happening. The wound was healing itself. _The wound is almost healed_, thought Kakashi.

"Is it alright? I won't need a needle right?" asked Goku.

"No, it looks like you'll be fine," replied Kakashi. As he continued to bandage the wound, he said to himself, _I should have guessed, it's the power of the seven-tailed dragon as well as his bloodline._

"Mr. Sensei, sir…" said Tazuna as everyone looked at him. "I have something I need to say, about the request for help I made to your village."

Kakashi looked at Tazuna, curious to what he had to say as Tazuna continued to talk, "As you guessed, this job is more dangerous than you and your students were led to believe. There's a real scary man who wants to see me dead."

"A real scary man?" asked Kakashi, curious to who it was.

"You have probably hear of him," said Tazuna as he had everyone at the edge of their seats, "He is a billionaire in the field of cybernetics and marine transportation. His name is Dr. Gero!"

"Wait, you mean Dr. Gero of the Red Pants Industries? The Dr. Gero world renowned scientist? They say he is the richest man in the world!" Kakashi knew who he was but couldn't believe that someone like him would target Tazuna.

"That's the one," Tazuna replied as he continued to explain, "On the surface, he looks like a legitimate businessman and genius scientist. The truth is he is a ruthless, murdering criminal who employs gangs and teams of shinobi as his own personal underground army known as the Red Ribbon Army. He controls the traffic in drugs, contrabands and organs. He starts out taking over companies with his underground army and ends up running entire countries. He lives by every low and vicious trade known to man. It was just one year ago that he set his sights on the land of the waves. He came under the guise of a business venture. Then the violence began, and in no time at all, he had taken over our entire marine transportation and shipping industry as well as the organ transplants. And now, we all are under his thumb! Dr. Gero has a stranglehold on all forms of transportation, the lifeblood of an island nation and a stranglehold on all the wealth. But the only thing he has to fear is that which has been underway for some time…the completion of that bridge!"

"I see," said Sakura as she had deducted the situation, "and as the architect of the bridge and overseer of its construction…you are very much in his way."

"That means…" continued Sasuke, "that the ninja who attacked us were working for Dr. Gero."

Goku in the meantime, had no idea what was going on, only that he understood that Dr. Gero was a bad man.

"But," said Kakashi as he tried to figure out the situation, "I still don't understand. If you knew you were the target of a ruthless thug with an army at his disposal, why didn't you tell us when you asked for help?"

"The land of the waves isn't a real prosperous land," replied Tazuna, "Even our local lords are poor and I have no money at all. An elite, B-ranked, bodyguard would be a lot more than I could afford."

Everyone looked at Tazuna and pitied his situation as he continued to talk, "But if you all turn away from me now, then I am good as dead. But oh well! That's not your concern! You won't be there to see my daughter and ten-year-old grandson cry all day like their hearts are breaking! Oh! And you won't mind if my daughter vows eternal hatred of all the ninja of your village as she lives her life alone! Heck! Well, it's not your fault!"

All of team seven knew they were being swindled but had to go through with the mission to avoid a guilty conscious as Kakashi spoke, "Well…I suppose it can't be helped. We'll continue to protect you at least until you return to your country!" A glint appeared from Tazuna's eye, _Hook line and sinker!_ The team continued with their mission. Meanwhile…

* * *

_At a disclosed location_

"Failed? What the heck do you mean, you failed?" yelled an old man with a grey moustache with wrinkled skin to a ninja sitting on a chair. "If you weren't supposed to be the best, I wouldn't have paid top dollar for your skills."

The other man began to move, swinging around his large sword towards the old man and spoke, "Don't worry Dr. Gero, I will take the hit by myself." This other man wore bandages around his face with a hitai-tae of the Village hidden in the mist.

Dr. Gero panicked a bit, especially with a sword in front of his face about to cut his life short, and yelled, "But are you sure you really want to? My sources tell me that the enemy has hired ninjas of tremendous skill! And besides…now that the Oni brothers have tried and failed, they will be on guard against further attempts."

The bandaged man chuckled and spoke with a low voice, "Remember to whom you are speaking! I am Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist!" He laughed evilly as he lifted his sword towards his back and started to prepare himself for the upcoming battle.

* * *

Author's note: Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I really didn't like Gato anyways so I wanted to replace him with a character of DBZ and I thought, why not ? I mean he is going to play a big part later on in the series. By the way, some of have said that Goku is a little too similar to Naruto. I have been trying to mix the two different personalities together but it seems that they are much the same character except Naruto gets pissed really easily. I wanted to show how it would be if Goku was in Naruto's shoes and felt the same things as he did. But don't worry, I think later on in the series, Goku will show his true personality, the one that we all love and know. Please leave some reviews and some constructive criticism. I really appreciate it and will listen to anything you guys say. Peace!


	7. The Demon Mist

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

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_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: After completing a series of missions, Team seven have received a new mission. C-level ranked mission to guard and escort Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. As the team and Tazuna get out from the village, they are attacked by two enemy ninja. They supposedly kill Kakashi and try to kill Tazuna but luckly Sasuke was able to delay them for Kakashi to foil their plans. Goku had frozen and injured from the attack. He was pissed that Sasuke saved his life and showed him up. He then makes a vow. A vow to never be the one to freeze up or held up and not be shown up by Sasuke. As the team cleans Goku's wound, Tazuna explains that a man by the name of Dr. Gero is after his life. Dr. Gero has control over the land of waves and sees the bridge as an obstacle to absolute control. Kakashi and team seven agree to escort him along the rest of the way. However, an evil presence looms over their path. What awaits our heroes and will they be able to survive the encounter? Find out next on Goku's New Adventure..._

* * *

Chapter 7: "The Demon Mist"

Team seven and Tazuna, after talking about the real mission, continue their journey to the Land of the Waves. A thick fog had picked up. In order to get into the land without detection, Tazuna had arranged a boat to take them back under the bridge. As they went on the boat and travelled through the water, a thick fog had picked up. It was so thick that you couldn't see 50 meters in front of you. As they continued to traverse the water, Goku asked, "Hey mister, so where is the bridge?"

The sailor replied as he was focusing on rowing through the water, "We will be able to see the bridge in a minute. On the other side of it is the Land of the Waves."

As they continued through, the team had spotted something big coming out the fog. It was the bridge! Though incomplete, it was still impressive. Goku couldn't hold himself in and yelled with his Son grin, "Whoa! It's huge!"

"Hey! Be quiet!" said the sailor as he started to look left and right in a panic to see if anyone had heard that. He sighed and said, "This mist will keep us hidden. But from this point on, we have to turn off our engines and row. We'd be big trouble if Dr. Gero caught us."

All of team seven nodded and Goku, for the rest of the trip, kept his mouth shut. The sailor continued to speak while looking at Tazuna, "Tazuna, so far it looks like we have been overlooked. Just to be on the safe we will take an inland waterway through town to a point where we can make landfall under the cover of mangroves."

Tazuna nodded and said, "Thank you." As the boat went underneath the waterway, they come across the field of mangroves, tropical evergreens that grow along the shorelines and river banks and look like floating forests when the tide is high. The sailor easily navigated through the mangroves, making sure not to be spotted by the Red Ribbon Army. Word had reached that army was lying in shadows, thus the extra precautions that had to implemented.

As they came to dock, Team seven and Tazuna had gotten off, with the sailor staying behind in his boat. "This is as far as I go," he said, "Take care of yourself Tazuna."

Tazuna looked back at the sailor, grinned and said, "Thanks for taking such a risk. I shouldn't have asked it."

The sailor nodded and went off. Tazuna turned and started to walk with the rest of Team seven, staying close to Kakashi. _There is bound to be another attack_, thought Kakashi as he started to look around with his eyes to see if any enemy attack is coming, _Next time, they won't send chunin. They will probably send jonin level shinobi._

Goku, meanwhile, looked at Sasuke and believe that this was his moment to shine. He went ahead, checked the area and when he heard a sound, he threw a shuriken to the area. Everyone flinched at Goku's actions, curious if he was actually right. After a few seconds of silence, Goku stood up and said, "I…uh, guess it was only a mouse."

"What mouse?" screamed Sakura. "Are you out of mind? There was nothing there, you dumbass!"

Sakura wasn't the only one pissed. Tazuna, having had enough of Goku's antics, yelled at him, "Hey midget! Don't go scaring us! Stop messing with our heads!"

Goku didn't pay attention to the yell. _I know I heard something,_ Goku thought,_ maybe I should search for different ki. I have been practicing it, even though Roshi-sensei kind of gave the basics of it._ Goku, closed his eyes, trying to feel out the ki in the area. He immediately recognized his teammates ki, especially Sasuke's and Kakashi as well as Tazuna. He continued to search and had sensed something. He opened his eyes and threw another shuriken. "This time! Over there!"

Sakura angrily came over and hit Goku on the head, "I told you to quit it!"

"But I swear!" pleading Goku as he was nursing the bump on his head. "There was someone in there!"

As Goku was being reprimanded by Sakura, Kakashi walked over to where Goku had thrown the shuriken and saw a rabbit that had passed out from the shock of almost being killed. _That's a snow hare, _thought Kakashi as Sakura showed the poor rabbit to Goku. Goku tried to bring the poor rabbit back to life, as Kakashi continued to look around. _It's springtime, so why is it still wearing its winter pelt?_ thought Kakashi, _The fur of the snow hare changes color with the seasons. In winter, when there is very little sunlight, the pelt is white. That hare is obviously a decoy that has been kept like a pet, indoors, where there isn't a lot of sunshine. Then that means…it's a trap!_

"GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled, just as a huge disc of death spun from the trees behind them. Kakashi saw the spinning sword clearly. Sakura and Goku threw themselves to the ground as Kakashi handled Tazuna and Sasuke.

The spinning blade slammed and stuck in a tree. The team picked themselves up, Goku snapping into a stance, ready to do battle with the shirtless figure now standing on the long hilt of the sword. The man was glaring back over his shoulder at them with flinty eyes and, though the bandages on the lower half of his face obscured it, a malicious blood-thirsty sneer.

Goku was ready for action, thinking to himself, _Yes! This is my chance! This time Sasuke is not gonna outdo me!_. Kakashi had a very serious face as he spoke, "Well, well…if it isn't Momochi Zabuza, the ninja who ran off and left the Land of Mist."

Goku was ready to attack but he was stopped by a hard hand, making him look up at the owner, wondering why Kakashi stopped him. Kakashi spoke with a serious tone, "Don't interfere." Goku knew right there and then that Kakashi had become very serious as Kakashi continued to speak, "This one is on a different plane from our previous opponents. And if I have to face him, it had better be me. This may be a little rough."

Kakashi grabbed his hitai-tae and began to lift it. He continued to glare down at Zabuza, his hirai-ate in the proper position, revealing his left eye. That side of his face had a vicious scar that ran vertically from his hairline down to the edge of the mask, but that was nothing compared to the eye itself. It was a vivid crimson, with three comma-like dots etched into the iris.

"Ahh…" spoke Zabuza with a cold voice, "To face the legendary Sharingan eye so early in our acquaintance."

"Assume the Manji battle formation!" commanded loudly Kakashi as he continued to look at Zabuza, "Protect the bridge builder! All of you, stay out of the fight. That's the kind of teamwork this situation demands."

As team seven began to form the Manji formation in front of Tazuna, Goku asked Sakura, "Hey Sakura, what is this Sharingan?"

Before Sakura could speak, they heard a voice that usually doesn't hear much, "Shinobi who have the Sharingan eye…"said Sasuke, "…have mastered a form of ocular ninjutsu. It enables them to penetrate and see the reality behind any genjutsu or ninjutsu and to reflect the powers of their owners back to them! The Sharingan eye is one of several types used by the masters and there is more."

Goku, curious to wonder about this Sharingan, stood at Sasuke's every word as Zabuza interrupted them, "Heh, heh…exactly. There is indeed more. Most formidable of all is the acuity with which the sharingan can discern and then duplicate its opponent's greatest skill. When I was an assassin for the Kirigakure village, I possessed the usual bingo book – a kind of who's who of our enemies. It had quite the extensive write-up on you including a mention of your impressive record. The man who had penetrated and copied over a thousand different jutsu…Kakashi the Copy-Cat ninja."

As Kakashi and Zabuza continued their staring contest, Sasuke began to wonder something. _The sharingan eye is supposed to be unique to only a small number of the Uchiha clan,_ Sasuke said to himself as he stared at Kakashi, _How can he have it?_

"Enough," said coldly Zabuza, "Pleasant at this conversation has been the time for talk is over. I am on a very tight schedule to polish off the old man. The bandages around the lower half of the man's face stretched and warped as the man grinned even bigger. He knelt on the sword's handle as easily as if he was on a sidewalk. He grabbed the handle, bracing his foot on the tree before pushing off and blurring out of sight. A disembodied voice drifted from the forest around them. "Kakashi, I'm going to enjoy killing you." The chilling statement was accompanied by another bout of chilling laughter.

Then Zabuza appeared in front of the team, standing on water. While the team was trying to figure out how he was doing it, Kakashi looked at him with concern and spoke to himself, _Clever. He has built a pretty fair concentration of chakra and if I am not mistaken, ki as well._

"The finest of the ninja arts…" said Zabuza as he began to disappear within the mist, "the Hidden Mist Jutsu."

"He is gone," screamed the team, trying to find the assassin with Goku trying to find him by ki.

Kakashi then spoke, trying to calm the team as well be aware of the threat, "He will come after me first. Momochi Zabuza of the Kirigakure assassin corps is a famous of the art of silent killing. Letting your guard down around him buys you a direct trip to heaven. I haven't necessarily mastered every aspect of the sharingan, so all of you stay on your toes!"

The three team members nodded but as the fog got thicker, they heard a voice echoing through the forest, "There are eight targets: throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidney, heart. So many choices! Hahahah! What vital , vulnerable place shall I choose?" The team recognized the voice as the silent killer and demon, Zabuza.

Kakashi, meanwhile stayed clam, performed a hand sign and had noticed that everyone, including Sasuke was on edge. "Sasuke," spoke Kakashi in a calm voice, "Calm down. I will not allow my comrades to die. That is absolute." He had turned around and smiled when he said that comment, assuring the team that everything was ok.

"I wouldn't bet on that…" spoke an ire voice as suddenly a figure appeared behind the team and in front of Tazuna. It was Zabuza! "Game over!" As he began to turn to swing his sword, he was stabbed by Kakashi who appeared in a flash. However, another Zabuza began to form behind Kakashi as he realized it was a water clone. Before he could block, it was too late for Kakashi as Zabuza swung his sword and sliced Kakashi in half. But instead of blood, there was water. _A water clone?_ said Zabuza to himself as he was a bit surprised of what had just transpired, _he was able to copy me in this mist?_

"Don't move…" suddenly a kunai was held to Zabuza's neck as he turned around to see Kakashi well alive. "Game over."

Everyone started to cheer since it was checkmate. Or so they thought. "Heh-heh-heh-heh…You think it's over? You just don't get it. It will take more to defeat than mimicking like an ape…a lot more. But you are good! In that short time, you had duplicated my water clone jutsu and by making your clone say something you would have said yourself, you ensured all my attention would be focused on it while you yourself used the Hidden Mist Jutsu as a cover, watching my every move! Too bad for you, I am not that easy to fool!" Zabuza finished speaking, there appeared another Zabuza behind Kakashi, surprising everyone as the one that Kakashi had at knife point disintegrated into water.

"Zabuza was a water clone too!" yelled Goku.

Zabuza swung his giant sword, ready to cut off Kakashi's head. Kakashi luckily ducked. However, he wasn't very lucky when the sword hit the ground, Zabuza pushed off it and kicked Kakashi back into the lake. Zabuza then grabbed his sword from the ground and raced to slice off Kakashi but he stopped midway when he saw that Kakashi had deployed some caltrops. _No matter!_ grinned Zabuza as he fazed out.

Meanwhile, Kakashi burst out of the surface of the lake with a gasp, having made a successful getaway, but instantly realized that something wasn't right here. The water was dense, as if it was a solid and not liquid.

_Not good!_ Kakashi thought desperately as a shadow fell over him. He twisted around the best he could and saw Zabuza looming over him, hands flying together to use a jutsu. His bandages warped as an insane grin lit up his features. This time, the grin was large enough to cause a gap in the wrappings and allowed Kakashi a glimpse of his mouth, complete with teeth filed to points. Clearly he took his name as the 'Demon of the Mist Village' very seriously.

"Water Prison Jutsu" Kakashi's mind went blank as he was enveloped in a bubble of chakra-enhanced water. This was definitely not good. How was he going to protect his squad and Tazuna in this condition? Oh well, at least Zabuza had to keep contact with the water prison to keep it active. Then the masked shinobi caught sight of a column of water that rose up to man height and began to take on a shape. Crap. This was about to get worse.

"Heh-heh-heh…" grinned the Zabuza clone as he stood up and looked at his prey, "Little ninja wannabe. Trying so hard to fit in, you even wear a hitai-ate. But a true ninja is one who has crossed and recrossed the barrier between the lands of the living and the dead. Clothes don't make a shinobi. You need skills good enough to rate a listing in my bingo book before you deserve the name ninja." The Zabuza clone made a hand sign as he started to disappear, he spoke, "We don't call your kind 'ninja.' We call them…brats!"

As he said that last comment, he kicked Goku so hard that the hitai-tae attached to him flew off and landed underneath the Zabuza clone's foot. Kakashi, desperately to make sure his team survives and accomplishes the mission, yells at them, "Everyone, listen! Take Tazuna and go! It's a fight you can't win! If he wants to hold me in this water prison, he can't leave this place. If his water clone gets more than a certain distance away from his real body, he loses control of it. So get the hell out of here!"

Goku stared at the Zabuza clone and for the first time, he was afraid. _So this is a jonin. A real elite ninja…_panickly thought Goku as he tried to get away, _There is no doubt of it! I'll die if I don't. He will kill me!_ As Goku got up, he felt a sharp pain. He looked where the pain came from and saw his bandaged hand. At that moment, Goku remember what he did. He had stabbed it to draw the poison but swear that he will never run away again. He wasn't going to be the one who freezes up or be outdone by someone else, especially Sasuke. He turned around and saw where his hitai-tae went. It was still underneath the clone's foot. Goku cringed. That was the proof that he had of becoming a ninja. It was also proof that he was close to achieving his dream of being Hokage. Goku got up and stared at the clone with a bit of fire behind his eyes. _Never again will I freeze up. I promised myself that I wouldn't stop anything to achieve my dream…my dream to become Hokage_, thought Goku. _No matter the odds, I will achieve it!_

Goku then got into a sprinter's stance and ran towards the clone. Everyone was screaming for him to stop, that he was going to be killed. He didn't pay any attention. There was one thing in his mind. When Goku came close to the clone, the clone kicked Goku far back towards the other two genin. As Goku laid on the ground, motionless except for his hand grabbing some dirt, Sakura yelled at him, "What were you thinking, taking him by yourself! You think you are so cool, but we are genin. We can't just…"

Sakura stopped herself as she saw something. The tail attached to Goku's body, it moved up and down as he was getting up. Sakura couldn't believe what she just saw but she shook her head and stared at the other thing that caught her interest…Goku's hitai-ate. Goku was holding in his hand. _That's what he tried to do…get back his leaf hitai-ate but why?_ Thought Sakura as she tried to recollect the other amazing thing,_ Was it me or did that 'fake' tail move?_

Goku finally stood up, panting as he spoke to the Zabuza clone, "Hey…you…the freak with no eyebrows? Got a new listing for your bingo book right here! A guy who is going to be the next Hokage of Konohagakure…" Goku put on his hitai-ate and stared at the clone, with fire in his eyesand got into his fighter stane, "Son Goku!"

Everyone was amazed by this boy's tenacity, especially Tazuna who had given so much crap about being the weakest one but now, he somehow felt secure. As if everything was going to be alright. And he wasn't the only one. Sakura felt this as well. "Hey Sasuke!" said Goku as he continued to stare down the clone.

"Yeah, what is it?" replied Sasuke.

"There is something I want to tell you! I have a plan."

Sasuke smiled and asked, "So, it is time for some teamwork?"

"Yeah…" said Goku as he started to take off his weighted clothes and put on some normal shinobi boots to avoid getting hurt from Kakashi's catrops, "It's time to kick some butt."

"Heh, heh…" the clone started laugh slowly as he picked up the pitch of his laughter. All three genin stared at him, wondering if he had finally gone senile. "You're very sure of youself. But do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

"We won't know until found out, won't we," said Goku as he started to channel his ki, moving a bit the pebbles around him, making sure that the clone didn't notice the buildup.

"What the hell are you doing?" screamed Kakashi from the Water Prison as he pleaded to the three to run away. "I told you to run! It was over the second I got caught! You have to do your duty! We are here to protect the bridge builder!"

All three genin stared at Tazuna, seeing if he was going to run away or stay behind like them. After a few seconds, he spoke looking down, "What? Let's face facts. The truth is, I got us into this mess by lying. I have had a real long life, and it would be wrong to let you four kids get yourselves killed trying to save me." He looked up with a smile on his smile and said, "So you go ahead…give this fight everything you've got."

Both Goku and Sasuke nodded in agreement and had gotten into their stance as they heard laughter, again coming from the clone as he spoke, "Playing at being a ninja like it's a child's game. I, on the other hand, was different. By the time I was your age, my hands were already stained with the blood of my enemies."

Kakashi flinched when he realized what the clone had just mentioned, "The Demon…Zabuza!"

"It would seem my reputation has preceded me," chuckled the demon.

Kakashi then looked at the genin and cared to explain to the three of what the clone meant by that comment, "Long ago, in Kirigakure, also known as the Bloody Mist Village, the final step toward becoming a full-fledged shinobi was the most inhuman difficult test imaginable."

The real Zabuza looked at Kakashi in interest as he spoke, "So you have heard about our little graduation exercise."

All three genin were confused what he meant by the graduation exam. "What graduation exercise?" Sure it couldn't be that bad. Let's face it, their graduation exam wasn't that dangerous.

Zabuza chuckled as he stared at the three as he spoke, "It's a kind of 'killing spree' among classmates." Everyone stood shocked! Killing spree! What did he mean? Zabuza explained, "Students who had been friends, eating from the same dish, as undergrads were divided into pairs who were forced to fight against each other to the death! Think of it. Comrades who had trained together, shared each other's every hope and dream were suddenly made to kill each other to survive."

As everyone stood in horror, Kakashi explained even more, "Ten years ago, the elders of Kirigakure were forced to enact a sweeping reform of their barbaric graduation ritual because of the appearance, during the previous year, of a human fiend who made reform essential."

Sakura, curious, asked Kakashi, "What reform? What did the fiend that you are talking about do?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and explained, "Without a moment's hesitation, without any hint of a qualm, a boy who hadn't even qualified yet as a shinobi, butchered over a hundred members of that year's graduating class."

"Ah, yes," sadistically grinned Zabuza as Kakashi had just told them the story of the Demon Zabuza. "Good times…I used to have so much fun." He then looked at Goku and Sasuke. Both of them flinched and before they could put their guard up, Sasuke was elbowed by the clone. But the clone didn't stop there. He pulled up his forearm and used the momentum to strike Sasuke on the ground. Sasuke spewed some blood. Sakura, Kakashi and Tazuna stood frozen in horror.

Goku acted without a moment's hesitation as he screamed, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A large number of clones appeared, surrounding the Zabuza clone.

"So…"said the clone as he grabbed his giant sword, "Shadow clones eh? And quite a lot of them too" as he stared at the many clones around him. "No matter! It still won't be enough to defeat me!" yelled the Zabuza clone as he prepared for the incoming attack. Goku attacked and piled on top of him but it wasn't enough. Even though he increased his strength and speed thanks to his ki and getting off his weighted clothes, the Zabuza clone was still stronger as he sliced the clones and pushed back Goku.

Goku skidded along the ground. "This isn't over yet! I still have a trick up my sleeve!" yelled Goku as he was grabbing something in his backpack, "Sasuke!" Goku threw something for Sasuke to grab and grabbed it he did.

As he went rolling on the ground from the momentum, Sasuke realized it and said to himself, _I see. So that's what you had in mind Goku. Excellent. Better than I had expected._ Sasuke then spun around, faced towards the clone and stood up. As he unloaded the object, he yelled, "Demon wind shuriken! Windmill of shadows!" Sasuke jumped and threw the shuriken at Zabuza, but instead of going to the clone, it went straight to the real one.

"At least this time you've had the sense to zero in on my true form," spoke the real Zabuza as he caught the shuriken with his free hand. However, there lied something else behind it. Zabuza was caught by surprised. _A second shuriken in the shadow of the first one! _said Zabuza to himself. Everyone waited for the second one to hit but instead Zabuza dodged it by jumping over it. "This kind of trick won't work on me!"

"He dodged it!" yelled Sakura. After all that work, nothing had changed. She looked at Sasuke and saw something unexpected…Sasuke was smiling. But why?

"You are still an amateur! Now I am going to kill…" spoke the real Zabuza as he prepared to throw the shuriken but heard something. An echo…

"KA…ME…" A blue light was being reflected on the water. Zabuza saw it and began to question. _Why would there be a blue light?_ Said Zabuza as he looked at the water, _the mist should be blocking any light unless_…

Zabuza turned around and saw something unexpected. It was Goku, floating in the air, holding his cupped hands to his side with a blue orb forming as he continued the chanting, "HA…ME…HA!" Goku pushed forward his hands towards Zabuza, sending the wave to him. Zabuza had only time to dodge but at a price, he got hurt by the wave.

"That little bastard!" screamed Zabuza as he prepared to throw the shuriken at Goku but was stopped short. Zabuza turned and saw that Kakashi had blocked the shuriken from being thrown. But how? How did Kakashi break free?

Everyone started to cheer. Finally the tables have turned as Goku landed in the water and floated up to the surface. "Goku, your scheme was brilliant. You have matured…all of you."

Goku gave his Son grin as he explained what just happened, "The shadow clone jutsu wasn't meant to take down Zabuza at all. It diverted his attention away from me while I transformed myself into the second wind shuriken! Of course, I didn't think that form alone would be enough to permit me to defeat him, but I was at least able to free you from his water prison."

"Heh," chuckled Zabuza, "So you made me fly into such a rage that unraveled the jutsu holding the water prison together..."

"No!" interrupted Kakashi, "You didn't drop your own jutsu. You were forced too. If you didn't, that Kamehameha wave would have hit you directly. Just so you know, that same jutsu won't on me twice."

"Well, we will see about that!" screamed Zabuza as both jonin separated and prepared to do a series of hand signs. It was all a blur to everyone else. When they finished, both of them yelled together, "Water Style! Water Dragon Missile!" Suddenly two giant dragons made out of water appeared. Both dragons attacked and canceled each other out as the water spread through the forest. Everyone was able to survive the aftershock and saw two figures crossing blades. It was Kakashi and Zabuza!

_Something isn't right_ said Zabuza to himself as he pulled himself away and tried to move around Kakashi, but staying still, Kakashi did the same movement and even the same hand signs. _All of my moves…my gestures…He sees…_

"…Through them all!" said Kakashi.

Zabuza stood there shocked, a nervous sweat coming down his face as he said to himself, _What? He's reading my mind? Curse him! He's…_

"…Got that sickeningly evil look in his eye right?" said Kakashi.

Zabuza flinched. He did it again. Now he was pissed. "Feh…You're a pale imitation.," said Zabuza however when he said, "I'm the genuine article. No mere copycat stands a chance against me," Kakashi said the same thing. Now he was even more pissed, "You mimic me like a parrot! I'll close your beak for good!"

But as he finished the last series of hand sign, Zabuza saw something unexpected. Behind Kakashi, there was a figure that looked like Zabuza. That freaked Zabuza out. What is just another one of Kakashi's illusion. Before he could answer that, Kakashi spoke, "Water style! Giant Waterfall!"

Zabuza was shocked as the attack was coming, _This is absurd! Before I could even finish my ninjutsu, he used the same jutsu against me!_ A giant geyser sprang up from the lake and attacked head on towards Zabuza. Zabuza was unprepared and didn't get the chance to put his guard up. _I can't keep up with him_ said Zabuza to himself as he hit a tree with a full thud. Then as Zabuza looked up, kunais hit him, holding him to the tree.

As Zabuza looked up, he saw Kakashi on a tree branch above him. "What…can you see the future?"

"Yes and I see your death," said Kakashi as he was ready for the killing blow. However, he was beaten to the punch when two flying objects stroke at Zabuza's neck, putting him down for the count.

"Well, it seems that your prediction came true," said a voice. Everyone looked up and saw a ornately dressed person who wore an equally ornate porcelain mask standing on a tree branch.

Kakashi came down from the branch and went to check to see if Zabuza had any pulse. He placed his hands on the neck and knew right away that Zabuza was dead. He looked up at the mysterious person, trying to figure out who is.

"Thank you for your help. I hope you don't mind my interfering, but I wanted the satisfaction of putting Zabuza out of his misery myself," spoke the mysterious boy.

"The mask is familiar," spoke Kakashi, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a shinobi hunter from Kirigakure?"

The mysterious boy replied, "Well, aren't you the smart one? I am, indeed, a member of the elite tracking unit from the village hidden in the mist. It is our responsibility to hunt down and deal with the rogues and the outlaws."

Goku, sprinting back to the group after resurfacing, looked at the mysterious boy. Kakashi then looked both at Goku and the mysterious boy. _Judging by his size and the timbre of his voice, he couldn't be much older than Goku or my other students, _thought Kakashi, _yet, he's already a full-fledged shinobi hunter. He's not your average kid, that's for sure._

Goku looked at the boy, then at Zabuza's body and then at the boy again, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. As he was about to charge towards the boy, Kakashi stopped him, saying, "Relax, Goku. He is not an enemy."

"That's not what I asked! I mean…what I mean is that he killed Zabuza, who wasn't exactly a pushover! But still got taken out by a guy who's only about my age! Like it was nothing! What, do we suck or something? What the hell is up with that?" yelled Goku with his blood boiling.

"Oh," said Kakashi as he started to walk up to Goku, "Well, you have my sympathy. I can see where a thing like that would be hard to accept. But it's a fact you'll have to live with." Kakashi placed his hand on Goku's head to reassure him, "This probably won't be the last time we run into a kid who's both younger than you and stronger than me."

"Your battle is over, for now…" spoke the mysterious boy as he came back from the branch with quick speed and started to put Zabuza on his shoulders. "The remains must be disposed of, lest they give up secrets to our foes. Well then, I must be off," echoed the boy's voice as he disappeared with the body.

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief as he placed his hitai-ate in the correct place, covering his left eye. He turned towards the group and said, "Now! We will have to escort Tazuna the rest of the way to his home." However, as Kakashi started to walk, he fell down. Everyone quickly came to his aid screaming, "Kakashi-sensei? What's happening?"

* * *

Author's note: That was exciting. I already have planned ahead the next few chapters so expect to see some fight scene and unexpected things as well. Review please! Peace!


	8. The Power of Training

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Goku and Team seven continue with their mission to protect the bridge builder, Tazuna from Dr. Gero and the Red Ribbon Army. As they land in the Land of Waves, the group encounters Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist. Kakashi fights against the Demon alone, however he gets trapped by a water prison jutsu from Zabuza. Instead of running away, Goku and Sasuke decide to attack Zabuza to free their sensei. They are successful and Kakashi is able to defeat the demon. But before he tried to kill Zabuza, Zabuza was killed by a mysterious figure with senbon on his neck. The mysterious hunter shinobi then takes the dead body of Zabuza away as Kakashi falls down. What happens now with our heroes? Find out next on Goku's new adventure!_

* * *

Chapter 8: "The power of training"

_I can't budge_, said Kakashi to himself as he woke up in an unfamiliar place and inside a futon. _I must have used the sharingan too much,_ as he remembered that after the fight with Zabuza, he had passed out. Luckily, the three genin and Tazuna, the bridge-builder were able to carry him back to Tazuna's home along the water.

As Kakashi started to get up slowly, he was stopped by a voice, "Ah, you are up!" Kakashi looked up and saw a young woman with long black hair. His guess that this person would be Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. Tsunami stood and gestured for everyone else to come into the room. "Are you all right?" said Tsunami.

"No, but I will be in about a week…" said Kakashi with not so reassuring voice.

"Boy, the sharingan is an incredible power," said Sakura as she walked and sat next to Kakashi, nursing him and making sure that he is alright. "But doesn't the strain it puts on your body make you wonder if it's worth it?"

"It was worth it I believe," grinned Tazuna wiping away his nervous sweat, "especially since you took down your strongest foe yet so we can probably relax for a while."

"I can't get my mind off that masked kid though," said Sakura.

"That mask is worn by the most elite and secret ninja from Kirikagure," responded Kakashi, "The shinobi hunters all wear them. Their unit is code-named the 'Undertaker' squad,' because they dispose of corpses so thoroughly, it's as though they never existed. Even after death, a shinobi's corpse may yield up its secrets, exposing the secrets of the skills it had mastered, as well as retaining the aura of the chakras it was steeped in the ninja's native lands even the ingredients of any drugs or potions that the body had consumed can become an open book. In the same way, when I die, if an enemy were to take possession of my remains, the corpse would reveal all of the anatomical idiosyncracies unique to possessors of the sharingan. In the worst case, the enemy might gain information to be able to duplicate and master that power. Ninja corpses tell too many tales. Basically, shinobi hunters specialize in tracking down and eliminating rogue ninja and obliterating their remains in order to protect the secrets of their home village from the rest of the world. Silently and without a trace. That's how ninja leave the world."

* * *

_Meanwhile in the forest_

The hunter shinobi had laid out the corpse of Zabuza on the ground. He got out his ninja tools, ready to destroy the body. "First, I'll remove the wrappings around the mouth so the blood can drain out, and then…" As he started to near the mouth with his thongs, something unexpected happened.

"Enough!" said a voice. A hand had grabbed the arm of the hunter shinobi. The hunter looked down and saw the 'corpse' of Zabuza move and remove the bandages around the mouth. "I can do it myself…" said the revived Zabuza.

"Well now…" said the unsurprised hunter as if he had expected Zabuza to be alive, "awake already?"

"You have all the finesse of a butcher," angrily said Zabuza as he started to pull out the needles in his neck that the hunter had placed before.

"Gently, please, Zabuza sir," said the hunter in a relatively calm voice, "If you pull those out any which way, you really will kill yourself!"

Zabuza pulled the other needle as well without paying attention to the hunter's warning. He then looked at the hunter and with disgust in his voice, "How long are you going to keep that ghoulish mask? Take it off!'

"Old habits die hard," grinned the hunter as he started to pull the mask off, "and it was also useful for my monkey pantomime routine." Once the hunter took the face, it revealed a very feminine face but it was still a boy, "They would have killed you if I hadn't intervened…"

"You needn't have targeted the vulnerable areas in the neck just to put me into a deathlike trance," angrily said Zabuza, "any number of other points on my body would have done!"

"I didn't want to mar your perfect body, Zabuza sir. I know how much you hate damaging it. And besides, the neck is so much less muscular than the rest of the body thus I can precisely target the points. Hitting those points would leave an ordinary target paralyzed and apparently dead for a full week. But, of course, someone like you will recover much more quickly, right?"

Zabuza looked his feminine-looking companion and sighed, "You are so innocent, so guileless, no doubt that's why I keep you around Haku."

Haku smiled, "Heh…well, I'm only a child." He stood up and looked up, "Without us even noticing, the mist has lifted. Next time will you be all right?"

Zabuza grinned underneath his bandages, "Next time…I will break that accursed sharingan!"

* * *

_At Tsunami's home_

Kakashi had finished talking about the hunter shinobi's role, but suddenly he sensed something. A spark. Something was off. _I know that scumbag Zabuza is dead_, thought Kakashi, _but I still can't shake off this strange feeling. A feeling that I may have overlooked something_.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong?" asked Sakura, moving a bit closer to him to make sure that he was alright.

"Of course," replied Kakashi, "shinobi hunters who manage corpse disposals are supposed to destroy the bodies of those they kill at once, right on the spot."

"So what?" asked Goku, trying to understand on what Kakashi was talking about.

"Think about it. How did the kid in the mas dispose of Zabuza's corpse?" replied Kakashi.

"How should we know? He took the body with him," said Sakura.

"Yes, he did," said Kakashi as he suddenly looked tense, "even though all he needed to take home as proof that he had made the kill was the head! And there is a mystery surrounding the weapons that the hunter used to dispatch his prey…"

"Senbon…" said Sasuke and then he realized at that instance with a shock, "No way…"

"Yes way," Kakashi said as he tried to get up in a sitting position to explain, "It's likely Zabuza is still alive!"

That shocked the whole room. The Demon that they fought hard against and thought had defeated, turns out to be alive.

"What the hell are you talking about? Kakashi-sensei, you checked to be sure Zabuza was dead, didn't you?" yelled Sakura in a panic mode. Obviously she didn't want to face that freak of nature again.

"I made sure of it," replied Kakashi, "but, a deathlike trance could have created a very convincing illusion of the real thing. Those senbon weapons that shinobi hunter used can be deadly if they hit a vital spot. If not, the mortality rate is surprisingly low and remember, they were originally designed as medical treatment tools. Shinobi hunters and all members of any village's corpse disposal squad must possess an intimate and thorough knowledge of human physiology. It would be simple for one of them to place a person into a near-death state. First of all, the masked boy went to the trouble of lugging off Zabuza's heavy carcass. Secondly, the senbon that he used as weapons, while potentially deadly, can also be used to inflict non-mortal injury. These two points suggest that the kid's objective was to give the illusion of killing Zabuza while he rescued him. Things may be just the way they seemed but we have to consider the other possibility."

"Aren't you just complicating things by over-thinking them?" asked Tazuna, "Shinobi hunters are supposed to hunt outlaw shinobi, right?"

"Usually, but ignoring something that smells this fishy is a great first step to being caught completely unprepared. And preparation is a shinobi's most important skill! Oh well! Whether Zabuza is dead or alive, there may still be more and even deadlier ninja in the service of your enemy, Dr. Gero," answered Kakashi. As he finished, he looked over to his students and saw Goku shaking. Not shaking of fear, but of excitement. Kakashi senses that Goku will want to fight him. Probably has to do with his bloodline.

"Sensei!" said Sakura in a high leveled voice, between yelling and talking normally, "You said, 'Preparation is a shinobi's most important skill,' but right now you can't even move. What are you going to do?"

Kakashi chuckled and then looked up to Sakura and the rest of the team as he said, "I'm going to increase your training schedule!"

"What? Training?" yelled Sakura, "But Kakashi-sensei, what will a little extra training now matter with what we are up against? Our opponent is a ninja so powerful that even with your sharingan power, he almost defeated you!"

"And when I was beleaguered, Sakura…" replied Kakashi in a cool voice, "Think about who it was that rescued me. You three all are maturing, progressing rapidly, your powers growing exponentially…especially yours, Goku! You have grown the most!" Goku blushed at that last comment made by Kakashi. Everyone, including Sakura started to take notice that maybe Goku has grown up a bit since they left the village.

"But that being said," continued Kakashi, "the skills I teach you now will be an interim thing only, to tide us over until I recover enough to take over."

"But, sensei!" Sakura said, "Even if Zabuza is alive, how can we just train without knowing when he may return and strike again?"

"An excellent question Sakura," answered Kakashi, "But once a person has been placed into a near-death trance, it is quite some time before their body returns to its previous state of health and readiness. So we will train while we are waiting!"

"Could be fun!" excitedly said Goku, pumped up for some more training.

"It won't be fun for you," said a small voice. Everyone looked down and saw a small boy wearing a hat.

"Who the hell are you?" yelled Goku.

"Inari!" screamed Tazuna, excited to finally see his grandson as Inari got to hug his grandfather, "Where have you been?"

"Inari," said Tsunami with an assertive voice, "Greet our guests properly! They are the esteemed ninja who brought our grandfather safely home!"

Inari then looked up at the three ninja and said while pointing to them, "But, mama, they are all gonna die." Goku stood up, pissed at that comment. No one is going to die, especially him. Who was this kid to say such an outrageous comment!

"No one can beat Dr. Gero and his men," said Inari with a cold voice as he looked down.

"You brat!" said Goku as he got up with fire in his eyes, "Pay attention, little guy! I am a superhero who will someday become the most extreme ninja, the Hokage! Gero? You can't seriously expect me to be afraid of that!"

"Hmmf! Hero? Are you an idiot? There is no such thing!" said Inari.

"What?" Now this kid had really pissed Goku off. It was only thanks to Sakura holding back that he didn't give a severe beating to the little boy.

"If you don't want to die, go home now…" said the little boy as he headed towards the door, "I am going to watch the ocean from my room…" He left the room with a slam. Tazuna kept apologizing for his grandson's rudeness. Everyone was curious to see what the kid's problem was. Well everyone except Goku. Goku was still pissed at the boy that he decided to give a piece of his mind. When he got upstairs though, he heard crying from one of the rooms. He saw through the crack of the door that it was Inari, who was holding a picture of man as he looked out the window. Goku stopped and decided to let it go as he went downstairs to join up with the rest of the team.

* * *

_After a few minutes at a forest near Tazuna's home_

"So, it's decided," said Kakashi as he had gathered the team at a forest with him using crutches to hold him up for the rest of the day. "The new training regimen begins today!" Everyone was excited, well mostly Goku who couldn't wait for some training. "But first," said Kakashi as he interrupted Goku's cheers, "Let's discuss the basis of your ninja powers…the body energies known as chakra."

"Yeah I know what those are!" said Goku, "Old man Roshi-sensei drilled that instruction into me during the training with him."

"Then do you care to explain on how to manipulate chakra?" asked Kakashi.

Goku looked at him for a bit and said, "The what?" with a straight face.

"I knew this was going to happen. Sakura care to explain…" said Kakashi as he handed the reins of the lecture to Sakura.

"Listen Goku, I am just going to say this once. We all know that chakra comes from both body energy and mental energy. All the arts and jutsu of the shinobi are born of a combination of those two energies, brought forth from the body and the spirit in what is called manipulating the chakras and focused in the mystic process known as weaving the signs."

"Very good Sakura, Iruka-sensei taught his students well," said Kakashi with a proud Sakura next to him.

"Well whatever, we already use our chakra for most of our jutsu and decimate the enemy. So what is the point?" Goku asked.

"Goku is right," Sasuke said, agreeing with Goku for the first time it seems, "We all already employ the chakra for the jutsu to decimate the enemy."

"Wrong!" said Kakashi, "None of you yet has full mastery of your chakra!" Goku stood shocked as well as Sakura and Sasuke, curious to what Kakashi meant. "Now listen," continued Kakashi, "As Sakura said, manipulation of the chakra refers to summoning physical and mental energies and combing them with your own body. Depending on which jutsu you wish to employ, the amount of energy you would need to absorb would vary as would the makeup of elements you would need to combine. No matter how great the amount of chakra you summon and manipulate, if you can't maintain your balance, whatever the jutsu…not only will the effectiveness of your maneuver be cut in half but you could blunder so badly the jutsu may not be released at all. And because you end up squandering your energies, you not only lack the stamina for a protracted fight…but you also develop significant vulnerabilities."

"So what do we do?" asked Goku with a Son grin.

"You learn to control your body through the harshest training…go out on a limb, and learn from experience!" replied Kakashi.

"How do we do that?" asked Sakura.

"How? Simple, we climb trees!" answered Kakashi.

"Climb trees?" said all three of them. "But how would that qualify as training?" asked Sakura. Did he seriously want them to climb trees?

"Oh!" Kakashi sounded as if he'd remembered just why it was training, but none of the teens in the group believed that for a second. "You seem to be thinking that you'll be allowed to use your hands for this training! Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention that little fact. No hands allowed."

"Uh…No hands?" Sakura asked. "Then how the hell are we supposed to climb the tree?" The other two nodded with her assessment.

"Watch and learn," said Kakashi. With that, the masked jounin faced the tree behind him and proceeded to walk straight at it. When he got to it, Kakashi just kept walking, straight up the ancient giant, never once breaking stride, and finally reached the lowest branch, some ninety feet over their heads. The three teens gaped at the ease at which their leader had done it. "That's it, in a nutshell," said Kakashi upside hanging from a tree branch. Focus all of the energy of your chakra toward the soles of your feet and use that power to cling to the trunk. When you have full mastery over your own chakras, this is the kind of thing you can accomplish."

"But Kakashi-sensei…" yelled Sakura, "How will learning to climb trees this way make us any stronger?"

"I'm just getting to that," said Kakashi as if he knew that these kind of questions would come up, "The point of it all, the goal is greater mastery over the chakras. To use no more than is necessary, but to maximize its effectiveness in where and how it is applied. That subtle control is the most critical aspect of every jutsu and technique you will ever apply. It's also the most difficult skill for even a master ninja to command. The type of tree-climbing we are doing here requires the most fine and delicate application of chakra energy imaginable. Especially because the bottom of the foot is an area where it is most difficult to manipulate one's energies. In other words, if you can master the control needed for this skill, no jutsu should ever be beyond you. Even ki as well. The secondary objective is to build up enough stamina necessary to complete your task once the chakra has been focused. If you think this looks hard, it's even more difficult to maintain your chakra when using ninjutsu. In battle, circumstances are constantly changing, and a true shinobi has to be able to manipulate and maintain his chakras on the fly, if he ever hopes to prevail. The time you need to just stand around trying to summon and control your own powers is a luxury you won't have. So while you are climbing those trees, you will also be mastering skills that will probably save your lives."

"Now, no more talk. It's time for action. The only way to learn is by doing," said Kakashi as he three kunais at the teens feet. "Use the kunai blades to score the bark at the highest point you can climb to. It will serve as a reminder for later. Your goal is to make a mark on a higher spot each time you climb. I don't expect any of you to reach the treetop on your first try. A running start will probably give enough momentum for a good first effort. All right?"

"No sweat!" grinned Goku, "I'll have this done before you know it. Besides you said it yourself, I'm the fastest developing ninja on this team!"

"Yeah yeah," said an unaffected Kakashi. _I did say that Goku was the fastest in development though he does continue to talk the loudest_. "Less talk and more action. Choose your trees and up you go!"

"Right!" All three genins focused the chakra onto their feet. Each one went their separate trees. As each one went up, Goku was the first to go down immediately while it Sasuke a while to get up but the bark gave out on him.

While coming back down, Sasuke notices the destroyed bark and Goku landing on his back. _Maintaining focus is a lot harder than I expected. Too much force and the surface's own energy repels you. Too little and you'll never adhere in the first place so you end up like that idiot Goku._

"huh," said Kakashi to himself in a low voice, "There is the difference between Goku and Sasuke in a nut shell."

"Hehe, this is easier than I thought!" said voice. All three, Goku, Sasuke and Kakashi turned around to the direction of the voice to see Sakura already on one of the branches sitting down, giggling.

"Well, well…Now we know which of you three has the best control over their chakras, our young lady here," said Kakashi as Goku praised Sakura for an excellent work while Sasuke was indifferent. Sakura, seeing that Sasuke didn't really care for her achievement, sighed and put her head down in defeat. Kakashi continued to speak, "Well! Understanding the use of one's chakras and manipulating them, successfully is quite an achievement. So far Sakura is probably the one closet to overtaking our leader, Lord Hokage, despite all of Goku's boasts and aspirations and the finest hope of the Uchiha clan doesn't seem too impressive either."

Goku and Sasuke flinched at the stabbing comment that Kakashi had made. While Sakura berated Kakashi for something that might make Sasuke to hate her, Goku and Sasuke look at each other with determined eyes, prepared to outdo each other. Rivalry is a tricky thing. It was big risk that Kakashi is making since some rivalries are healthy but some are not. _Now they have the motivation. Within them, Sasuke and Goku both harbor such massive untapped reserves of chakra that Sakura's is nothing by comparison. If this lesson goes as planned…by the end, we should be able to tap those vast resources, _thought Kakashi.

* * *

_Meanwhile in an undisclosed location_

The hideout for Momochi Zabuza. It was a conical hut, suspended between some trees by thick ropes of some kind, and had narrow prison-like windows cut into the exterior. Inside lied the Demon Swordsman, laying in his bed while being watched by his feminine-looking companion, Haku. Their peaceful resting was interrupted by the sound of a door creaking. Haku looks and sees four figures. One was an average size, guessing to be Dr. Gero. The two figures were probably his bodyguards, hired samurai. But the figure that caught his interest was the big shadow behind the door, making robotic sounds.

Dr. Gero came with his bodyguards excluding the big figure. Haku thought that probably he was there for insurance if the meeting went astray. Dr. Gero spoke as he walked in, "I'm surprised you have the nerve to show your face around here after taking a beating like that. Shinobi from Kirigakure would appear to be vastly overrated. You can't even clean up for you miserable subordinates. Demon of the Mist…yeah right! Don't make me laugh." As Gero continued to walk up to Zabuza's bed, the two samurai readied their weapons, prepared to attack. Haku took notice and quickly took out some his senbon in his nonvisible hand, prepared to defend himself and his master.

"Wait a minute, you two," said Dr. Gero as he walked by the two samurai, using his hands to tell them to back down. As he continued to walk towards Zabuza's bed, Gero said, "Nothing to say for yourself?" Gero's hand started to approach Zabuza's bandages but before he could touch the bandages, his arm was grabbed, hard, by Haku.

"Don't defile Lord Zabuza with your touch," angrily said Haku as he started to break Dr. Gero's hand. Once they saw that his arm break, the two samurai pulled out their swords, ready to defend their client. However, before they could even slash Haku, he was right behind them with both of their swords, ready to slit their throats. "You don't want to do that when I'm angry," said Haku.

As he said that, Haku heard a loud noise behind the door, signifying that the large figure was going to attack. However, before the figure could enter the door, Dr. Gero moved with his uninjured hand to tell the mysterious figure to stand down. He then looked at Zabuza, and then Haku as he was walking back to the bed and said, "There had better not be any more mistakes! If you fail again, don't think you can come back here!" Dr. Gero then left with his men the hut.

As Gero slammed the door, Zabuza said to Haku, "There was no need for you to do that." He lifted the bed covers to reveal that he had a kunai with him if Dr. Gero did something stupid.

"I know," responded Haku. "But it's too soon to finish off. If we cause a commotion where we are, we might find ourselves on the run from them again. For now, let's be patient." Zabuza nodded and went back to sleep.

* * *

_The training forest_

The three genin continue to train on tree climbing but it hasn't changed much. Goku still keeps falling off and hitting his head, Sasuke keeps on climbing higher and higher but not much, and Sakura is exhausted. She looks at the other two and says to herself, _The boys have so much stamina_. She gets up and sits against the tree. She looks at the progress that Goku and comments to herself, _But Goku hasn't improved one bit! Now he'll probably have a tantrum and quit!_ As she says that to herself, Goku did what she just said but instead of giving up, Goku heads towards Sakura's position.

"Hey Sakura! Could you help me get the hang of this?" asked Goku. Sakura was a bit surprised to say the least.

Kakashi on the other hand, smirked as he said to himself, _Goku's growing up. I wonder how strong he will become. If he only knew! His latent abilities dwarf even those of Sasuke and perhaps mine as well! That would be a marvel and a pleasure!_ "Sakura!" said Kakashi, "I think you have done enough training for one day. Why don't we leave these boys and go to the bridge with Tazuna." Sakura nodded and got up from her spot as she had just finished talking with Goku.

* * *

_Later in the day_

Goku and Sasuke continue their training with the tree climbing exercise. Both genin have vastly improved earlier however, Goku is still behind Sasuke. As they go up one more time, Goku slips up, marks on the tree and falls down. He looks up and sees Sasuke still going up. Sasuke slips as well, slashes the mark on the tree and as he is going down, he notices that Goku is catching up to him. As Sasuke lands, Goku reacts to Sasuke's progress. However, he snaps out of it, making sure that his concentration on the tree rather than Sasuke. He remembers what Sakura told him earlier.

_Flashback_

"_Hey Sakura!" said Goku as he walked up to Sakura. "Could you help me get the hang of this?"_

"_You're hopeless!" responded Sakura but she continued. "Now, pay attention. It takes mental energy to generate and manipulate chakra, so if you get all stressed out or distracted you can't do it. Take it easy. Relax and focus on the tree until you can feel how much energy you will need to center in the soles of your feet."_

_End of Flashback_

Goku then starts to focus on his feet with concentration. He finally feels ready to go up along the tree and reach higher, however he is interrupted by a voice which causes to him to fall down.

"Hey, Goku!" said Sasuke.

"You're breaking my concentration! Stop bugging me!" yelled Goku as he got back up from his fall.

"Uhhh…well…" muttered Sasuke.

"What? What is it?" asked Goku.

"Wh…what did Sakura say to you…?" asked Sasuke with a hint of embrassment.

Goku picked it up and grinned a bit evilly. Though Goku was a good guy, he didn't want his rival to get the upper hand. "None of your business!" said Goku. That irked Sasuke with a bit of anger as the forest grew silent.

* * *

_Later in the evening_

Everyone was eating at the table with Goku and Sasuke eating very fast. Goku was eating fast and a lot because that was how he normally ate. Sasuke was doing it to be ahead of Goku, however, any one that had tried to match Goku's appetite went down after a few plates. As these continued eating, Tazuna spoke with a smile on his face, "Boy, this is real fun! I can't remember the last time I shared a meal with so many people!"

Goku and Sasuke both finished their plates and spoke at the same time, "More, please!" A bolt flared up as they stared at each other after speaking. As they stared though, Sasuke felt a little sick and threw up on the side while Goku kept looking like he wasn't satisfied with finishing yet. Sasuke got back to the table, ready to eat some more.

As the next servings came in, Sakura yelled at the two boys, "Stop eating if you are just gonna hurl it back up!" Then she looked at Goku, "And how can you still be eating? Aren't you full yet?"

"No, I wanna eat!" replied Goku.

"Because even if we make ourselves sick to do it, we have to eat if we want to get strong!" continued Sasuke with Goku's previous comment. Kakashi sighed as he looked at the two boy continue to eat.

After the meal, Sakura stares at a photo that is hanging on the wall with Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari smiling. However, a piece of the photo is torn. Sakura asked, "Why is this picture torn? Little Inari was looking at this the whole time we were having dinner. Someone's face is completely gone. Is that deliberate?"

As she said that comment, Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami all froze. The room was silent with the dishes being washed. Tsunami first broke the silence, "It was a picture of Inari's father."

"Once upon a time, if you will…" spoke Tazuna with a sadness behind his voice, "Our entire city called him a hero."

Inari got up and started to walk towards the door. Tsunami looked at Inari and said, "Inari…where are you going?" Inari ignored his mother, opened the door and slammed it behind him. Tsunami started to chase after him, but she looked back at Tazuna with tears in her eyes, "Father! I have told you time and again not to mention that in front of my son!" She slammed the door as well. The room went quiet again.

Sakura spoke, breaking the silence, "So you are talking about what it is makes Inari act so strangely?"

"It sounds like there is a story behind this," said Kakashi, eager to know as well.

Tazuna took a deep breath and spoke, "The man in the picture was not Inari's birth father, but they were as loving and close as any biological father and son could have been. Inari was such a happy, laughing child back then." Tazuna stopped and tears began to well up in his eyes as he continued, "But Inari changed after what happened to his father. Our people and especially little Inari were robbed of the very meaning of courage because of what happened that day."

"What happened?" asked Kakashi. "What was it? What could have changed Inari so much?"

Tazuna took at napkin and wiped away his tears as he spoke, "Let me start at the beginning and tell you about the man who our entire land called a champion and a hero. It was about three years ago that Inari and the man first met. Inari was picked on by some of the boys as they took away his dog at the time. Inari tried desperately to get the puppy back but one of the boys decided to throw the puppy into the water. The boys then said that if Inari cared so much for the dog, then he should go after it. However, he was scared and didn't go in until the same boy that threw the dog into the water also threw Inari into the water. At that time, Inari didn't know how to swim and called for help. At the same time, the dog began to paddle away. Necessity, and the nearness of his own death finally taught the puppy how to dog paddle. Inari was about to drown until he was saved by the man. He told Inari something that had always stuck with him, 'If something is precious to you, no matter how painful or how hard it seems, no matter what it may cost you, you have to hang in there and protect it will all the strength you have go, even at the risk of your own life! If you do that, then even if you die in the attempt, at least the world will be left with the proof of that a man worth living had died! It'd be like your legacy.' That impressed Inari and those two developed a great bond. His name was Kaiza. He was a fisherman who came here from abroad to seek his fortune. From that day forward, Inari's affection and admiration for Kaiza grew and grew. It probably had something to do with Inari's real father having died before the boy was old enough to remember him, but even so that boy stuck to Kaiza like white on rice. They were always together like any other father and son. In no time at all, Kaiza was like one of the family. And he was just the kind of man this town needs more of! When heavy rains hit the village, Kaiza saved the village from being flooded by closing the barrier. That was when people here started calling Kaiza a champion and a hero. With a father like that, Inari could hold his head up high. That is, until Dr. Gero came to town."

"And the incident you have alluded to took place…" said Kakashi. Tazuna was quiet and the three genin realized that something had happened with Gero and Kaiza. "So what happened?" asked Kakashi.

Tazuna started shudder and spoke, "In front of the entire city, Dr. Gero had Kaiza put to death!"

"What?" said everyone.

Tazuna continued with a sadness and rage in his voice, " claimed that Kaiza had committed acts of terrorism to his company and his men. He added more phony accusations to Kaiza but it didn't matter. Kaiza was put on a cross to incite fear into everyone. Everyone watched as Kaiza was cut down. Ever since then, Inari has changed and Tsunami and everyone in the city has changed too."

Goku then started to walk towards the door, tripping himself over from exhaustion. As he got up, Sakura asked him, "What are you doing Goku?"

"Don't even think about training any more today," said Kakashi. "If you try to work your chakras anymore without getting some rest first, it would probably kill you."

"I'm going to prove to him that he is wrong!" said Goku with a determined grin. "I'm going to show Inari that there are still heroes in the world!" He walked out the door, ready to train some more.

_

* * *

Morning of the sixth day of training_

Goku found himself lying in the middle of the forest, sleeping. Near him though was a person picking out herbs from the forest. This person was Haku who was wearing an outfit that normally women would wear. He had his hair down and with his feminine features, people could mistake him as a girl. Haku continued to walk around the forest and spotted Goku on the floor sleeping. Haku realized who he was especially with the leaf hitai-ate around his waist. He walks over to Goku and notices the tail waggling a bit as if it was real. Haku was caught bit by surprised by the tail but it didn't matter to him as he started to reach for his neck. However, instead strangling him since he was Zabuza's enemy, Haku woke up the boy and said to him as he started to wake up, "You will catch your death of cold, sleeping on the ground."

Goku looked up and said, "Who are you?"

_A few minutes later_

"Hey! Have I picked enough of those herbs you wanted?" asked Goku as he was helping Haku pick up herbs. "Are these grasses and weeds really medicinal?"

"I am sorry to have imposed on you," replied Haku.

"That is some job you took on, girl…harvesting all that this early in the morning," said Goku.

"Look at who's talking! What were you doing in the middle of nowhere at the crack of dawn?" asked Haku.

"Training!" said Goku with his Son grin.

"Really?" said Haku, sounding a bit surprised. He looked at the hitai-ate around Goku's waist and asked, "That headband you are wearing, are you some kind of ninja?"

"Yup!" Goku smiled with his Son grin.

"What are you training for?" asked Haku.

"To build up my strength," replied Goku

"But you look so strong and manly already!"

"Nope! I need to be a lot stronger than this!" said Goku.

"But why?" asked Haku, curious to know Goku's answer.

"To become the strongest in my home village! All the people who used to treat me like dirt will have to say 'He is the number one shinobi'! And right at the moment, I kind of have to prove a point to a certain person I know."

"Are you doing this for the sake of that person or for your own satisfaction?" asked Haku

"What?" Goku said with dumbfounded face.

"Do you have anyone special in your life?" said Haku.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Goku.

Haku looked down, as if remembering past memories of living in the streets when Zabuza found him and gave him a purpose. "When people are protecting something truly precious to them, they can become as strong as they must be!"

Goku understood Haku's words as he remember all the events of people sacrificing themselves to help others and the strength they gained when protecting something special. Goku hopes one day to be like that as he responds back to Haku with his Son grin, "Yup! I know all about it!"

Haku smiled and started to walked away from Goku in the opposite direction. Haku spoke as he walked farther away from Goku, "You will get strong…very strong…but before I go, you should know that…I'm a boy."

Goku was shocked. The guy that he just talked to was so girly, even more than Sakura is. The world is an amazing place sometimes.

_The next morning – the seventh day of training_

Kakashi and Sakura went into the forest to check up on the boys' progress. Kakashi spoke, "Where did Goku go this time? Pushing himself beyond his limit, going out by himself again last night."

"And at breakfast time…" continued Sakura, "Sasuke says he is going for a walk and he disappears too!"

Then suddenly a kunai is dropped in front of them. Both of them look up to Goku and saw him lying on the tree, exhausted. Sakura was bit surprised that he got all the way up there. Goku spoke up as he got up, "Well? Did you see? Lookit how high I can go!" However, as he got up, Goku started to lose balance was about to fall off the branch. Both Sakura and Kakashi reacted to his falling as quickly as they can to make sure that he didn't die from that height. However, before either one of them moved, Goku was safe. He was hanging off the branch using chakra on his feet to support himself. He smiled with his Son grin as he just played a prank on Kakashi and Sakura.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, you jerk!" yelled Sakura. Goku continued to smile until his feet started to leave the branch and fall. This time was not a prank but before Goku hit the ground, Sasuke was able to save him using the same method as Goku did before.

Sasuke was holding onto the tree branch using his chakra powered feet. "You loser." Sakura was ecstatic in that Sasuke showed off again. Kakashi smiled, knowing that everything is going well.

_

* * *

Back at Tsunami's house _

Kakashi was doing push-ups using his right index finger and having Tazuna and Sakura as weight. Tazuna spoke as Kakashi did his push-ups, "I keep meaning to ask you. You know I duped you about how dangerous this mission was to get you to come here so why do you stay?"

"To know what is right and choose to ignore it is the act of a coward. Like master, like man! Those are the teachings of some of our previous Hokages. This is the shinobi way of life. True shinobi do not merely dance to the tune of whoever pays the piper."

_Meanwhile, at Zabuza's hut_

Zabuza held an apple in his hand and crushed it. He sat up on his bed. Haku walked into the room, saw the destruction of the apple and said, "Most of your strength has returned."

"Excellent!" grinned Zabuza, "Let's get going Haku!"

_

* * *

Later that evening_

Everyone, except for Goku and Sasuke, were getting ready to eat dinner. Then the two genins walked through the door with Sasuke supporting Goku on his shoulder. Both of them looked worse for wear especially Goku as he had pushed himself to the limit. Tazuna spoke as the two walked through the door, "So, you're finally back! Looking like something the cat dragged in!"

Goku grinned with his Son grin as he spoke, "Both…of…us…"

"We made it to the top of the tree," finished Sasuke.

Kakashi spoke, "Good! Goku, Sasuke, starting tomorrow, you two can help Sakura protect Tazuna." Both genin nodded as they sat down ready to eat.

Tazuna grinned at the hard work the two had put in, "Whew! Well, I am dirty, sweaty, and real worn out from all of the work on the bridge today, but construction is almost complete!"

"Father, you and Goku are two of a kind. Please don't work yourselves to death!" said Tsunami.

Goku laid on the table, exhausted and still with his Son grin. Inari looked at him with contempt. Why was he smiling? He had the same smile as Kaiza had before he was killed so why? Tears started to well up in his eyes. Goku looked at him and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Inari slammed his hands on the table with tears falling from his eyes, "Why do you wear yourself out trying?" he yelled. No matter how hard you train, you will never be a match for the Red Ribbon Army! You act all cool, and talk all tough, but big, strong guys like that are always too much for people weaker than they are. They will destroy you!"

Goku responded back in kind, "Shut up! I am not you and I am not gonna lose!"

Inari had enough and continued to yell at Goku, "Just watching you ticks me off! You go running your mouth when you don't know a thing! This isn't your town! And you don't know a thing about me. You are always clowning around and having fun. You don't know a thing about suffering or loneliness or what my life is like!"

That last comment struck a nerve on Goku. He looked up with rage in his eyes and yelled back, "So, you figure it's noble to star in a melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at your pity party? It takes a really big man to sit around and cry you brat! You big baby!" That had stopped Inari's rambling and Goku decided to leave the table and eat later. Inari continued crying as he went out the door for outside underneath the moonlight. Tsunami was about to go after him but Kakashi stopped her as he wanted to talk to Inari himself. Outside, Inari was alone on the edge of the house silent until he heard a voice.

"May I join you?" Inari looked up and saw it was Kakashi. He nodded and Kakashi took a seat next to him. There was silence between the two for maybe two minutes until Kakashi spoke up, "You know, Goku is kind of a brat, but he wasn't trying to be mean or hateful. He just lacks finesse. Tazuna told us about what happened to your father. Goku grew up without a father, same as you. Actually, without any parents. He doesn't remember either one of them or had a single friend. His whole life is one big, painful memory."

Inari looked up at Kakashi, a bit surprised, "Really?"

Kakashi nodded and continued, "And in all the time I have known him, I have never seen him cry. Or use his troubles as an excuse to sulk or be a coward not once. He always tries his hardest, hoping someone will notice and give him a kind word or pat on the back. That's his dream, and he has risked his life for it. I think one day he must have just gotten fed up with crying. He understands what it means to be strong. He knows what it costs and what its worth just as your father did. Goku probably understands you and knows how you feel better than any of the rest of us."

"Why?"

"He can't leave you alone because you have gotten under his skin," said Kakashi.

_

* * *

Next morning_

"Well," said Kakashi to Tsunami as he, Tazuna Sasuke and Sakura were leaving the house, "Please take care of Goku. He is worn himself out. I doubt he will be able to move for the rest of the day."

"We're off Tsunami," said Tazuna as him and the rest started to walk towards the bridge. Tsunami waved back at them, promising to take care of Goku.

_At the bridge_

"Are you ready to attack?" said Dr. Gero through a radio to Zabuza and Haku. However, it appeared that they weren't listening. "Zabuza, pay attention!"

"Time to go, Haku," said Zabuza.

"Of course," replied Haku as he put his hunter shinobi mask on. Zabuza got his sword ready for the upcoming battle ahead with Kakashi and his three genin.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry for the long update. Work was getting in the way and having many interviews to go to Japan to teach english. Thank you for your reviews. Hopefully the next update won't take as long as before. I can't talk much since my favorite futbol team, FC Barcelona is playing against Real Madrid and winning 2-0. Visca el Barca! Be ready for the next chapter which should be awesome! Peace!**

**P.S. Please leave some reviews if possible**


	9. Transformations

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Here is another exciting chapter. Please REVIEW! BTW I want to thank those who have reviewed. Your comments are greatly appreciated! Thank you! Also thanks to WingedFreedom 22 for using some his lines.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: After the fight with the Demon Zabuza, Goku and the gang rest up in Tazuna's daughter's home. Kakashi has the three genin train for the upcoming battle again with Zabuza even though he was defeated. There is a possibility that the boy that had carried him off was working with Zabuza. The training consisted of tree climbing to learn chakra control. During their training, Goku and gang were introduced to Inari, the grandson of Tazuna. Inari and Goku immediately butted heads but had come from similar background especially after being told about the story of Kaiza and what he meant to this village. Goku had also met up with a mysterious boy who told him something interesting, "When people are protecting something truly precious to them, they can become as strong as they must be!" That mysterious boy was Haku, who had rescued Zabuza from the fight. They both prepared for the upcoming fight as well. However, there are other menacing figures approaching as well. How will our heroes deal with them? Find out on Goku's New Adventure!_

* * *

Chapter 9: "Transformations"

"What the…? I overslept!" yelled Goku as he realized that everyone had left him behind in Tsunami's home. He opened the door to his room to see Tsunami sewing something with Inari. Goku looked at them and asked, "Where did everyone go?"

Tsunami looked at him with a bit of a surprised look. Didn't Kakashi say that Goku would be out for the whole day? "Oh! Goku, what are you doing up? Kakashi-sensei wanted you to take today off."

Goku ignored her as he grabbed his clothes and put them and went out the door towards the bridge. He knew that everyone would be there. On the way there, he noticed some rustling in the woods that were on the way to Tsunami's house.

Meanwhile, three ominous figures were approaching Tsunami's house. Two of them were carrying swords and another one stayed behind the trees as backup. They could hear the voices of Inari and Tsunami as the mother asked the child, "Inari, could you please help me do the laundry?"

"Okay, mom, but I'm in the bathroom now!" responded Inari.

* * *

_On the bridge_

Kakashi, Tazuna and the two genin arrived at the bridge to find some of the workers injured. Tazuna went over to the injured workers to find out who did this to them. As all of them contemplated on who was behind this attack, a mist was picking up. This wasn't any ordinary mist though as it got thicker and thicker. It would seem that Zabuza had lived and is ready for revenge. Everyone was on edge, taking out their weapons, ready for any attack.

"Kakashi-sensei, isn't this his Hidden Mist Jutsu?" asked Sakura. The mist started to thicker and thicker. Sasuke started to shudder his body as a voice started to boom throughout the mist.

"Been a while, Kakashi…" said the voice. Everyone recognized that it was the voice of Zabuza. "And I see you have go those brats tagging along, just like last time. And the little boy is trembling again, poor thing…" Suddenly eight Zabuza's appeared in all directions. Tazuna and Sakura were caught by surprised while Kakashi and Sasuke remained cool in the situation.

Sasuke stopped shaking as he spoke, "I'm shaking with eagerness for a rematch!" Zabuza look a bit surprised.

"Go ahead Sasuke," said Kakashi. Sasuke moved in a swift motion and eliminated all the Zabuza's in the vicinity. When it was over, the water was coming down as Sasuke stood in the middle of it in a graceful move holding two kunais. It would seem that the Zabuza's were water clones. As Sasuke finished, two figures approach the team. It was Zabuza and his masked friend, Haku.

"Well! My water clones were obviously no match for you! It seems the brats have matured quite a bit into worthy rivals eh, Haku?" said Zabuza.

"Indeed, Lord Zabuza!" said the masked hunter shinobi.

"Looks like I was right," said Kakashi, surveying the situation. "Our mysterious masked friend is playing on Zabuza's team."

"He has nerve, showing up like this!" yelled Sakura.

"This one's mine," said Sasuke with a stern. He got ready his weapons to attack as he said, "That was quite a show you put on before, but we are on to you now and I hate ham actors!"

That last comment made Sakura fawn over Sasuke even more, saying how cool he was. Kakashi, meanwhile, saw how Sakura was fawning over Sasuke and commented to himself, _Sakura challenges everything Goku says or does, but she takes Sasuke completely at face value, without question._

On the other side of the stare down, Haku commented with Zabuza on the boy's progress. "Impressive kid, isn't he? Even if your water clones have only a tenth of the strength of the originals, it's amazing he was able to do so well."

Zabuza ignored the hunter shinobi's comments as he was more focused on the upcoming fight with Kakashi. "But we are still on the offensive. Go Haku!" Haku nodded and suddenly fazed out, surprising Sasuke at his speed. Sasuke went up to attack the incoming hunter and prepared to fight the hunter's senbon with his kunai. They went at very fast speeds. However though, they were unaware of another battle going on somewhere else.

* * *

_At Tsunami's house_

As Tsunami was setting the plates for lunch, the door was torn apart. She turned around to see two figures and figured that they were Dr. Gero's men. The two hired samurai went through the destroyed entrance with the one with a hat spoke first as they stared at Tsunami, "Old man Tazuna's daughter, huh? Sorry, but you are coming with us."

Meanwhile, Inari finished his business in the bathroom and was washing his hands when he heard his mother scream. He stopped the faucet and went towards the direction of the scream. He came to the living area and saw two samurai approaching his mom, who was against the kitchen cupboards retreating away. "Mama!" He screamed.

The two samurai looked back and saw a little boy, scared out of his mind. The one with the eye-patch spoke first, "What do you want brat?"

"Run, Inari! Don't come in!" screamed Tsunami, fearing for the safety of her child.

The two samurais looked at each other as they spoke. Dr. Gero only ordered for one hostage, so what should they do with the other? The one with the eye-patch spoke, "Since we only need one, why don't we kill the kid!" Inari froze and his body shivered as the samurai started to pull out his sword from the scabbard.

"Wait!" The two samurai looked back Tsunami who was the one yelled at them. "If you dare touch my child, I'll bite through my tongue and drown in my own blood. Then what will you do for a live hostage?"

The two samurai stopped and looked at each other first, then decided to take Tsunami's offer as the hostage, leaving her son alone and alive. "Be grateful to your ma, kiddo," said the samurai with the hat.

"Aw, man…" said the samurai with an eye-patch with a disappointed look. "But I'm dying to cut someone!"

"Relax. You gave your blade a pretty good workout before we even got here. So get over it, and let's go."

Inari stood in the corner, crying. He couldn't do anything, much less save his mom. _Mama, I'm so sorry_, said Inari to himself crying. _I'm a weak little crybaby, I can't save you. And I'm afraid! I don't want to die!_

"_You big baby!" _Inari looked up as he remembered Goku's and Kakashi's words from last night._ "You figure it's noble to star in a melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at your pity party?"_

"_I think one day he must have just gotten fed up with crying."_

"_It takes a really big man to sit around and cry, you brat! You big baby!"_

"_He understands what it means to be strong. He knows what it costs and what it's worth just as your father did."_

Inari then remembered the words that his father, Kaiza, used to always say, _"If something is precious to you, protect it with all the strength you've got even at the risk of your own life!"_ Inari started to wipe away his tears, stood up as he said to himself, _Everyone else is so awesome, so cool and strong, can I…could I be strong too…Daddy? Yes I can!_

Inari ran outside as he heard the two samurai talking. "Heh-heh…such beautiful skin. So smooth and lovely. It's a shame not to be able to cut it," said the eye-patch one.

"Stop dawdling!" said the other one.

"Wait!" yelled Inari. The two samurai and Tsunami look back and see Inari, staring down at them. The two samurai grinned while Tsunami stood with a bit of shock and fear that her boy was about to be killed. Inari continued to yell with a brave front, "You get away from my mama!" Inari charged forward, ready to take back his mom.

"Jeez, this kid is a waste of space!" said the eye-patch samurai as he started to pull out his sword.

"So, let's cut him," said the hat samurai as he also started to pull out his sword as well. Tsunami looked on with fear as her son was about to be killed in front of her. All that talk and she still couldn't save her son and fainted. However, before she fainted, she saw a log get cut up in the place of Inari. The two samurai looked surprised. They knew that the substitution jutsu was used, but how? How could this boy know ninjutsu?

"Sorry I'm late."

The two samurai looked back and saw a boy with spikey black hair, dressed in a blue gi and yellow pants with orange wristbands, boots and a white sash with the leaf hitai-tae attached to it, holding Inari and Tsunami in his arms. It was Goku to save the day! "It's being a hero, you know? All that nick of time stuff!"

"Goku!" said Inari. Boy, was he glad to see him.

"Way to go, Inari!" said Goku with a smile on his face giving the thumbs up to Inari. "When you distracted them, I was able to save your mother!" The two samurai looked at Goku with angry faces. How dare he take away the hostage? He will pay! Both of them drew their swords, ready to kill Goku. "So, you wanna fight me? You don't seem very strong."

"Shut up, you brat! I will cut you up!" yelled the eye-patch samurai as he went forward to slash Goku and maybe Inari as well. However, before he could get to that spot, he saw Goku in front of his face as he was elbowed very hard in the chest by Goku and knocked into the wall. Goku stood his ground in a fighter stance, ready to take on his next opponent.

The hat samurai started to shake in fear. He witnessed the amazing speed of Goku and his powerful punch. _How did he do that? _He thought to himself. But it didn't mattered, he was going to avenge his fallen comrade and pulled out his sword. He charged towards Goku who had his back turned towards the samurai. The samurai took this chance to attack and swung, hitting Goku. The samurai saw the little boy, Inari, scream out the shinobi's name but when he looked at his target, Goku was fazing out, like an after-image. Then suddenly the samurai was hit from behind, hard as he landed on the floor. He looked up and saw Goku standing over him with a grin. "How did you do that?" the samurai asked.

Goku smirked and said, "Training!"

Goku began to tie up the two samurais together with rope. Inari came over to where Goku was tying up the two hired samurais and asked him, "Goku, how did you know those samurai were coming?"

"There was a stuck pig back in the forest, cut to ribbons with a sword and trees with fresh deep slashes in their bark, going in the direction of your house. Wasn't too hard to figure out, I got worried," said Goku as he finished tying the rope.

The hat samurai, who was wide awake during the conversation between Goku and Inari, looked at Goku and said with a grin, "Did you also notice the big footprints on the ground as well?"

Goku looked at the samurai for a bit and replied, "Yeah, how did you know? I had thought it was some strange animal walking through that you two probably had killed."

The hat samurai chuckled and said, "You know that we weren't the only ones here to capture a hostage for Dr. Gero, right?" Goku turned serious as soon as he heard that sentence. There was another enemy here? Where? Goku began to look around and couldn't see anything. He believed that the samurai was bluffing until he heard the samurai say, "You can come out, Full Metal Jacket!"

As soon as the samurai said that, the ground began to shake a bit and the water started to form ripples. Noises were coming out of the forest. Goku looked towards the direction of the noises and saw a gigantic figure walking towards them. The figure was a very big man with purple hair. By no means was he fat, but big in the sense of muscle wise. He carried a blue vest on with the insignia of the Red Ribbon Army on the back. He wore black gloves, black pants, and black boots. Not to mention he was also wearing sunglasses. He stood in front of the group with a menacing aura.

Inari fell down in fear and started to shake, knowing that maybe he should have run away. However, he stopped shaking when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Goku with a determined face. Goku looked down at Inari and grinned. "Don't worry Inari. A hero never backs away just because his opponent is bigger than him. I will win this fight! Why don't you take your mom somewhere else, ok?" Inari nodded, grabbed his mom and went behind some bushes near the house.

After seeing Inari move away a bit from the fighting area, Goku then looked at his opponent and asked, "Are you sure you want to fight?"

Full Metal Jacket walked up to Goku, staring at him while Goku did the same. This was for a few seconds until F.M.J. said, "Die!" He shot his right arm out to hit Goku on the ground. He hit the ground with a loud thud thinking that he hit Goku. However, when he lifted his hand from the ground, Goku wasn't there. "Where did he go?" said the tall figure.

Inari was in shock. Where was Goku? How could he survive against such a being? That is until he saw a small shadow on the ground and looked up. He saw Goku high in the air and went down towards F.M.J., landing on his left shoulder. F.M.J. saw Goku land on his shoulder with surprise and tried to attack him but it was too late. Goku had hit him with a hard left punch to the face. Inari cheered for Goku's supposed victory as the giant fell down.

Goku landed on the ground with the sign of victory and said to Inari, "See? I told you so." Then he started to walk towards the direction of Inari until suddenly he was grabbed by two gigantic hands, ready to crush him. Goku was caught by surprised as he looked back and saw F.M.J. still standing and trying to crush him with his hands. The hat samurai, who was watching this fight, said out loud, "Now you are toast! Crush him Full Metal Jacket!"

"I'll squeeze the life out of you!" said the giant, putting much more force into crushing Goku. Goku started to grasp for air. He realized he needed to gather ki around his body which he did. He gathered enough to open the giant's hand, allowing him to escape from certain crushing death. F.M.J. was mad. No one has ever escaped from his death grab. Inari cheered for Goku after almost seeing him being crushed by the giant and he was also amazed by Goku's sheer strength. No wonder he claimed himself a hero.

Goku looked up at the giant, gathering ki to build up his strength to knock out F.M.J., and said, "Okay, big ugly bad guy…this time I'm gonna hit you for real!" Goku distanced himself from the giant to get a running start. As he did, Goku jumped and stuck out his right leg for a direct hit in F.M.J.'s chest. Full Metal Jacket was sent flying into a few trees that were destroyed. Goku sighed and thought the battle was over until he saw F.M.J. walking over to him without a scratch. Goku was surprised and said, "Whoa! He took my attaks head on and didn't budge an inch and without a scratch!"

The giant then said, "Now it's time for you to die!" He sent flying his right foot to smash Goku. Goku however, jumped, thinking that he was safe. But he realized it, he didn't have his guard up and F.M.J. took advantage as he put all his power into a right punch that sent Goku hitting the ground, bouncing into the wall of Tsunami's house.

"Goku!" screamed Inari, fearing that Goku was going to be killed.

The hat samurai smirked and said, "Looks like this match has been decided. No one can beat Full Metal Jacket!"

The giant then walked over to Goku's body and prepared the final blow by smashing him with his gigantic right foot. When the foot came down, everyone thought they were going to see some guts flying all over the place. However, that didn't happen. Goku woke up in the nick of time and moved out of the way, surprising everyone that was watching the match. Goku then got into a stance and jump forward, head-butting F.M.J. Full Metal Jacket was knocked down onto the ground.

As Goku came down to the ground, he held his head in pain and said, "Oww! Talk about a bone-head!"

Inari cheered and said, "Way to go, Goku!" The hat samurai was a bit impressed by Goku's tenacity but at the same time, he just made Full Metal Jacket very angry.

F.M.J. started to get up again, surprising both Goku and Inari. Then F.M.J. looked down at Goku and prepared himself for an attack as he said, "Now, child…face your death!" Then he open his mouth as he shot out a laser beam towards Goku's position.

Boom!

Part of the deck was destroyed along with some trees. Full Metal Jacket stood in front of the destruction, showing off the victory sign with his hands. The hat samurai laughed, knowing that this was the end of the brat. Inari meanwhile, began to cry. He screamed out loud, crying, "Goku!" At any other time, he would have run away, knowing that the enemy was much stronger than him. But one thing that Goku showed him was that you shouldn't run away. You must fight to protect the things that are precious to you, like Kaiza had taught. He got himself to strike the huge man, but was pulled from behind by a hand. Inari looked back and saw Goku, still alive without a scratch on him. Inari was about to cheer loudly but Goku closed Inari's mouth with his hand. He put his index finger to his mouth, telling Inari to be silent.

Goku then looked at his opponent, Full Metal Jacket, to figure out what to do next. _That was close_, he thought, _What was that move anyway? It's almost like…like he was shooting a Kamehameha blow from his mouth! Well, if he's gonna use a Kamehameha, then I'm going too_. Goku then stepped out from the bushes and yelled to Full Metal Jacket, "Hey! You missed me! I'm not dead! Nyah, nyah, nyah!"

Both Full Metal Jacket and the hat samurai turned around in surprise and shock to see Goku alive. "Impossible!" said the hat samurai. "No one could have dodged that!" Full Metal Jacket was angry. He then started to run up to Goku to crush him.

Meanwhile, Goku got into a stance with his cupped hands to his side as he said, "You can dish out a big whammy but can you take this?" Then he started to chant, "KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!" He shot his cupped hands forward to launch the wave attack towards Full Metal Jacket and was engulfed in the blast. The hat samurai was shocked! He didn't know that this kid had that much power! As the smoke cleared, the giant was still standing, except… he had no head! Some of his clothes were torn off and some of his skin, showing some metallic frames in his chest. Goku stood there shocked. He didn't mean to kill the guy. "I blew his face off? I did a bad thing. Um…sorry!" Then he clapped his together to pray. "Rest in peace, ugly bad guy!" As he said that though, one of Full Metal Jacket's arms started to move and its fist was directly pointing at Goku's face. Goku heard the noise and looked up to see the arm move. "Huh? Naw I gotta be seeing things."

Suddenly, the hand shot out. Literally, shot out like a missile towards Goku and hitting him face on. Goku was knocked down to the ground. As he got he saw the other arm move to crush him. Goku jumped away and kept dodging the attacks. After putting some distance between the two, Goku was still a bit shocked as was Inari. "I don't think this is your normal ugly bad guy!" said Goku.

The hat samurai smiled and laughed. "Now, you see your foe as he is! A Full Metal Indestructible Robot!"

Goku ignored the hat samurai as he got into his fighting position. "Okay! Guess I better give you everything that I have got!" As he readied his attack with a hand sign, the android stopped moving with a powering down noise behind it. Goku looked up and was a bit surprised. He moved closer to the android and started kicking him and knocking him to make sure that he stopped moving.

The hat samurai was also curious as well. Why did Full Metal Jacket stop moving? That is until he realized, "Don't tell me…his battery's dead?" he said. He panicked, thinking that he was next on Goku's list. He tried to escape with him still being tied up, that is until Goku caught up to him and knocked him unconscious.

Inari ran up to Goku, cheering. "You did it Goku! That was awesome!"

"No sweat!" Goku said with his Son grin. "But forget that…Inari I owe you an apology."

"Why?" asked Inari.

"Well, I'm sorry I called you a baby. And it's not true okay?" replied Goku as he placed his hand on Inari's head. "You are a big, strong boy!"

Inari then started to cry with tears of happiness. "Oh no!" he said. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry. Now you'll make fun of me again."

"No way!" said Goku. Inari looked up a bit confused. Goku would have usually made fun of him know but instead he said, "Nothing wrong with crying when you are happy!" smiled Goku with the biggest grin ever seen. Goku then looked at the unconscious samurai and said, "So, if they attacked us here, it means the bridge is probably a target too!" Goku looked at Inari and smiled, saying, "You can handle things here, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, time to get to work!" said Goku as he sprinted towards the bridge. "Man, I hope there are some strong opponents."

* * *

_At the bridge_

The battle between Sasuke and Haku was in a stalemate. Both were blocking each other's blows at amazing speed, surprising everyone including Zabuza. Kakashi, meanwhile, knew that if he would get into the fight, Zabuza would have a clear path to kill Tazuna. "Sakura!" said Kakashi. "We have to cover Tazuna. Take that side, and stay close! Let Sasuke handle the boy!" Sakura nodded as she got into position.

"I don't want to have to kill you," said the hunter shinobi. "But, you probably won't leave quietly, will you?"

Sasuke smirked and said, "Don't be stupid."

"Just as I thought," said Haku with an indifferent voice. "However, you won't be able to match my speed for long and I have laid the groundwork for two attacks."

"Two attacks?"

"Firstly, there's the water splashed all around us. Secondly, I have trapped one of your hands with parrying this move which leaves you only one hand free to defend yourself from my attacks!" Then he moved his free rapidly, making hand signs along the way. Both Kakashi and Sasuke were taken by surprise at the boy's speed. Haku finished his hand signs as he said, "Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!"

Suddenly, the water around them turned into ice needles, ready to kill their prey. Sakura screamed out Sasuke's name, hoping that he could come out of this ordeal. Meanwhile, Sasuke started to plan ahead his escape. _Gotta remember the training! _He said to himself. _Summon all of the chakra energy you can and focus it in my feet!_

The needles crashed into the place where the two shinobi once stood. Haku, the hunter shinobi, moved out of the way of his attack. As he looked at the area, he saw that Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, shuriken came crashing down towards him from the sky. Haku anticipated the attack and quickly dodged them. As he readied himself, he heard a voice behind him, "You are not that fast." Haku turned around to see Sasuke, completely unharmed. Sasuke continued, "Now you are the one who has to worry about defending yourself from my attacks."

Sasuke then moved to strike at his opponent with a kunai. Haku blocked the attack but had dodge another attack when unexpectedly, Sasuke launched the kunai that held his blocked hand towards the hunter shinobi. Haku lowered himself but was caught by surprise from another of Sasuke's attacks. Sasuke was fast! He launched Haku into the air with a kick that had caught him by surprise. Zabuza was surprised. This is the first time that someone was matching with Haku's speed.

"You're fast. I'm faster," said Sasuke.

"You had that coming for underestimating my team," said Kakashi. "He may not look like much but Sasuke here is the top-rated rookie from all of Konohagakure. And Sakura here is our sharpest mind. And last but not least, let's not forget our own comedy ninja – the maverick ninja, the one and only Goku!"

"Heh heh heh," laughed Zabuza catching Sasuke by surprise. Why would the demon be laughing? "Haku…do you understand, if this goes on, you could end up dying at the hands of the very person you sought to spare?"

"Yes, I do," replied Haku as he got up with a chilling aura surrounding him. "What a pity." Sasuke then realized that the air was getting colder by the second as the hunter shinobi did a series of hand signs. Sasuke waited for his opponent to strike but he started to hear a noise of ice forming. He looked back and saw a pillar of ice was forming into a mirror. This wasn't the only location though. All around the two warriors were mirrors forming. "Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" said Haku. The mirrors stopped forming as they were encased in a dome of ice mirrors.

As Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, Kakashi stood from outside of the dome, surprised at the jutsu that the boy had just used. Kakashi was well known in all of the jutsu, especially since he was the Copy Cat Ninja that knew over 1000 different jutsus. But this time, he didn't recognize it and went to help Sasuke. The boy did not have enough experience to deal with situations of this kind. As he sped towards the dome, Zabuza appeared right in front of him, blocking his path. Zabuza smirked and said, "Let's not forget that I'm your enemy. Our children can play together while my boy kills yours." Kakashi cursed under his breath.

Sasuke stood in the center of the dome, wondering what this jutsu was about as Haku was on each mirror. _What's he planning to do with these mirrors?_ He said to himself.

"Now that it's all in place…" Haku's voice projected throughout the dome, "Let me show you some real speed!" Suddenly, Sasuke was hit on his left shoulder by a senbon, drawing injury and blood. And then, a multitude of attacks appeared out of nowhere, injuring him all over his body. Sasuke screamed in pain, unable to receive help from anyone.

"Any sudden moves and I'll those other two!" yelled Zabuza, knowing that Kakashi wanted to desperately save Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" screamed Sakura, worried about her crush. As Sasuke's screams continued to come out of the dome, Sakura looked at Tazuna and said, "Mr. Tazuna, I'm sorry. But I'm going to have to leave you for just a little bit."

Tazuna nodded and responded, "Go ahead. I'll be fine!"

Sakura then moved ahead, trying to find a good distance to strike Haku with her kunai. As she launched the knife, it would have appeared that it would hit one of the mirrors. Instead, Haku grabbed it while coming out of one of the mirrors. However, he was attacked from his blindside by a shuriken, which left a mark on his mask as he fell onto the ground. Haku looked up as he laid on the ground to see a small figure, sprouting a tail. It was Son Goku!

"Heh! Son Goku at your service!" grinned Goku. He didn't even think about a strategy when he saw his friends in trouble. A part of him though wanted to show off to Sasuke. Haku immediately recognized him as the maverick ninja that Kakashi said as well as the boy that he saw in the forest, training.

Zabuza took this opportunity of Kakashi being distracted to strike and kill one of his students, Goku. He threw six shuriken towards Goku, catching Kakashi by surprise. Goku, in the meantime, anticipated this kind of attack and was ready to repel with a kunai knife. However, the shuriken were blocked a flurry of senbon. Everyone, including Zabuza, were caught by surprise when they saw that it was Haku who threw the senbon. They had expected Haku to let Zabuza kill his prey. Zabuza looked at his partner in crime and asked, "Haku…what are you doing?"

"Lord Zabuza, sir," replied the hunter shinobi. "Please let me have this boy. I want to fight him in my own way."

Zabuza continued to stare at his partner and after a few seconds of silence, he spoke, "So, you want me to keep my hands off him, eh, Haku? How charmingly naïve of you as usual."

_That guy…naïve? Yeah right!_ Said Sasuke to himself as he looked at his wounds from Haku's attacks. _Look at me, it's like I'm being cut to ribbons by a thousand needles but the cuts are all superficial. He's killing me by inches, saving the vital targets, and the deathblow for later. But I can't figure out what technique he's using! His clones all hide within the mirrors and then strike simultaneously! I don't even see him move. He strikes before I can spot his weapons trajectory! It can't be the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The ice mirrors are a part of this, somehow. But I can't figure out their significance! Whatever is going on, the mirrors must be the key! Looks like my chance is to concentrate on the battle here and trust Goku to set me free from outside._

"Yo, Sasuke!" Sasuke looked next to him to see Goku in the dome with him. "I'm here to rescue you!" Things have gotten from bad to worse.

"You idiot! No stealth, no caution and you call yourself a ninja?" said Sasuke. "Now that you've gotten yourself trapped in here with me…just do what you want. I don't really care."

"Oh, fine!" said Goku in a pissed off voice. "I went through hell to rescue you and this is the thanks I get?"

While the two ninja argue between themselves, Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, stopping the argument. Sasuke picked this up, thinking that Haku in front of them was the real body. However, he ready himself to strike, he heard a voice behind.

"Over here."

Sasuke looked behind him and saw Haku right there. How did he do that? Sasuke took no time to answer that question as he ready his next attack, the favorite jutsu of the Uchiha, hoping that it would work since the mirrors are made out of ice.

"Fire Style: Blaze of Glory jutsu!" screamed Sasuke as he let out a wave of fire to spread and try to melt the mirrors. As the fire began to quell down, none of the mirrors had melted!

"It's not even making a dent!" said Goku.

"That pitiful flame will barely touch my ice mirrors," said Haku in a cold voice as he attacked again from all the mirrors, injuring the two warriors.

As both got up, Goku tried to find out the real body, thinking that this was a variation of the shadow clone jutsu. It didn't matter though. He would attack all the mirrors. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" yelled Goku while Sasuke tried to stop him, knowing that it was futile. A number of Goku clones came out to try to hit the real one. But instead, all of them were in hit in a blink of an eye, including the real one. Goku landed on the ground with a thud. "Dammit!" he yelled. "This is harder than the other guy that I defeated!"

"The jutsu that I'm using is part of the art of teleportation, and the only tool I need to perform it is the mirrors that hold my image. I move so quickly, the pair of you might as well be standing still!" said Haku from one of the mirrors.

Kakashi then realized something after hearing that comment made by Haku. "I never imagined that anyone could master such a jutsu at so young an age!" said Kakashi.

"Such a Jutsu Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"It's a Kekkei Genkai. A skill that can be passed from one generation to the next! A genetic trait, running through the bloodlines of those of the purest shinobi pedigree. Some of the most extraordinary techniques are handed down from generation to generation solely on that basis," replied Kakashi.

"You mean…"

"Precisely," continued Kakashi. "It's of the same order of skills as my sharingan eye. But even my sharingan can't copy, mimic, or break this boy's kekkei genkai!"

Meanwhile, both Goku and Sasuke got up with wounds all over the place. "I've had enough," said Goku as he started to take off his weighted clothing. "It can't end like this! I've got a dream to fulfill!" Goku stood up fully and got into a stance, ready to attack again.

"I find it difficult to embrace the full shinobi philosophy," said Haku as he remember about what Goku had told him in the forest and about his own past when he was found by Zabuza and given a purpose. "I can't help but prefer that the pair of you not force me to kill you. However, if you two are going to come at me, I shall kill my own heart with my blade. Just as the word 'shinobi' was originally the words 'heart' and 'blade', I will act as full-fledged shinobi would! This bridge is a nexus of our destinies and all of our dreams and futures balance on the edge of a knife. I have my own dreams as you have yours. Please try not to resent me, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect the one I care about most. To fight, kill or die to fulfill that person's dreams. Doing so is my own dream. To that end, I will become a true shinobi and I shall kill you both."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," smirked Goku with Sasuke nodding at his comment.

"Sasuke! Goku! Don't you dare lose to a person like him!" yelled Sakura.

"Stop encouraging them, Sakura!" interrupted Kakashi. "Even if we knew of a way to counter his jutsu, your teammates still wouldn't be up to the task of defeating that boy."

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Those two haven't developed the psychological strength to turn their hearts to ice and take a human life. That boy has lived with the kind of emotional anguish that prepares him to be a true shinobi."

"No true shinobi could ever be born of a place like your village, a place of weakness, of peace," said Zabuza. "You don't live with death, or grow up needing to kill to ensure your own survival. In you those skills, and the mindset they require, die stillborn!"

Kakashi decided it was time to end this fight, once and for all! As he started to tug his headband to take out his sharingan eye for the fight, Kakashi said to Zabuza, "You'll forgive me if I put an end to this!"

Zabuza smirked evilly as he spoke, "Going to use the sharingan? What a vulgar maneuver. So obvious, so lacking in finesse!" Zabuza went ahead to strike against his enemy with a kunai knife before Kakashi could uncover his sharingan. Zabuza sliced towards Kakashi, trying to kill him. Instead of killing him though, Kakashi had blocked the knife with the palm of his hand, drawing first blood.

"You can sneer all you about my 'lack of finesse,' Zabuza. But it doesn't change the fact that you're afraid of the sharingan. And of me," said Kakashi with his hand bleeding as Zabuza pulled out the kunai from the hand.

Zabuza smirked. "A ninja's secret weapon should be employed judiciously, not displayed at random to every foe you face!"

Kakashi continued to stare at Zabuza and said, "You should feel privileged. No one else has ever lived to see the sharingan a second time. And no one will ever see it thrice!"

"By all means, defeat me, if you can," Zabuza smirked evilly. "You still won't have what it takes to kill Haku! Since he was a toddler I have beaten his fighting skills into him! Even in the face of unthinkable adversity, he has always prevailed! He's lost all regard for his own life and become a killing machine…a true shinobi. His skills surpass even my own. And he bears within him the formidable legacy of an inherited kekkei genkai! Thus, I have forged and carry with me a weapon of matchless quality and skill entirely unlike the scraps of trash that follow at your heels."

"Is there anything duller than listening to someone else brag?" responded Kakashi as he pulled his headband up to reveal his sharingan eye. "It's show time!"

Zabuza chuckled a bit as he spoke, "Perhaps you might hold off a moment, now that I have caught my breath. And – to borrow your own idiom – permit me one more boast. You turned a very pretty phrase at our last encounter, frankly, I have been dying to steal it." Then Zabuza put his hands up into a hand sign for a jutsu, which Kakashi was unsure what the jutsu was or why he was even attempting to do it since he could copy it. Zabuza chuckled, "Something to the effect of 'just so you know the same spell won't work on me twice.' Having had a chance to see it in action, I now have a thorough understanding of the arcane workings of your sharingan eye. There was far more to our previous battle than the apparently humiliating defeat I permitted you to hand me. Haku, who was hiding nearby, observed and studied every aspect of our fight, from beginning to end. Haku is extremely intelligent. For him, to see a technique is to analyze and understand it. And with that understanding, he can develop effective countermeasures. And now, Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" As the name it implies, a mist began to cover the bridge except for the ice dome. However, this was different as it was becoming even thicker than before.

Meanwhile in the ice dome, the two genin warriors were having their hands full of trying to figure out Haku's jutsu. Goku stood up and into a fighter stance. "All right! Let's try it again! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Stop you idiot!" said Sasuke but he was too late as a number of Goku clones appeared and tried to attack each mirror.

Haku watched from one of the mirrors, "It won't work. It is futile."

"Try and stop me. I won't ever give up," said one of the Goku. Like last time though, all of his clones were defeated and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Idiot, what are you trying to do? You know it won't work…" said Sasuke but he was interrupted when he saw a blue light from above him. He looked up and saw Goku in that familiar stance of having his hands cupped together to his side.

"KAMEHAMEHAA!" yelled Goku as he shot forward his cupped hands to one of the ice mirrors, shattering it. "Yeah! I did it!" Goku ran towards the empty space to try to escape but was stopped when a flurry of senbon came his way. Goku was able to barely dodge them as he went down to the ground. He looked at the empty spot to see another mirror forming in that space.

_I see, that's what he was trying to do,_ said Sasuke to himself as he stood beside Goku, a bit amazed at his plan. _He distracted Haku by appearing to attack the mirrors. While he attacked the shadow clones, Goku had gathered enough energy to use that attack on an empty mirror._ He then looked at Goku and said, "Goku, can you do that again, except without that Kamehameha jutsu?"

"It's not a jutsu but a ki wave, but sure I can do it again," said Goku as he got up again to perform that shadow clone jutsu. Sasuke, meanwhile, gathered his chakra to use a jutsu when the opportunity arose. As Goku clones appeared and were defeated easily, Sasuke saw a bit of movement from Haku and chose to attack.

"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke launched a fireball towards where Haku once stood. The fireball hit the area but not the target. Well, not all of it.

Haku stood in one of the mirrors to see a bit of his clothing burnt off. _How did he do that? That kid, he can see something!_

Kakashi stood his area, amazed by the thickness of the fog. He had already ordered Sakura to stick to Tazuna like glue. _This fog is too thick for the Hidden Mist Jutsu! Even Zabuza won't be able to see anything through it,_ said Kakashi to himself. However, at that moment, a flurry of shuriken were launched towards him. Kakashi was able to repel each one with his kunai knife. Then he heard a voice behind him.

"You repelled those nicely, no less than I'd expect of Kakashi of the sharingan eye." Kakashi looked behind and saw it was Zabuza. "However, the next time you see me; it will still be the end." Kakashi was caught by surprise but something was different about him. His eyes were closed! But why? "You have overestimated the value of your sharingan," said Zabuza as he disappeared in the mist. "You pretend it enable to penetrate all, but you have turned out to be a false prophet after all, Kakashi, you can neither read my mind nor the future. In other words, your precious sharingan is just an elaborate hoax, a confidence trick you play in order to psych out your opponents. More precisely, it combines clarity of perception and insight on your own part with the ability to all but hypnotize those around you! Using those skills in concert, you are able to create your illusions through a combination of mimicry: from movement, to thoughts, to the skills of those you fight! Prancing around acting like you can see the future! You analyze my superficial movements, copy them, and use the rapidity of the turnaround to induce fear and insecurity. Once you are certain you understand what's going in my heart and mind, you calculate just what to say to bend my mind to your will, and then you calculate when my insecurities have reached a fever pitch, and then you lay your trap. You use visual hypnosis to trick me into signaling what jutsu I'll use and how I'll be using it. And then all you have to do is mimic it! Knowing that, it was simple to choose a countermeasure. First, I conceal myself within this thick mist and neutralize your visual acuity. With my own eyes closed, I eliminate the possibility of your hypnotizing me while we're in close proximity."

Kakashi was then pushed off towards the ground by an attack. As he got up from the ground, he said, "But then while I can't use my own eyes, neither can you!"

"Ah but you forget," said the projected voice of Zabuza in the mist. "I am trained in silent killing. My genius lies in the ability to hunt by sound alone!"

This had caught by surprise completely for Kakashi. _Blast it_, he said to himself. _I have been so worried about Goku and Sasuke, I hadn't considered how long it's been since I had to fight under condition this adverse! I've got to calm down, stay smart. Who will he target next?_ As soon as he said that question, he realized who it was. The bridge builder! And like he said, he saw Zabuza creeping from the mist to strike from behind of Tazuna. Kakashi tried to go as fast as possible. _I won't make it! _And then, he thought up of something. _I guess I gotta use that then_. He gathered up some ki and used it to increase his speed to appeared right in front of Zabuza as he was swinging his blade to cut Tazuna.

"Too late!" said Zabuza as he lowered his blade. Sakura then screamed.

Sasuke stopped dead at hearing his other teammate's screams.

_What's going on over there?_ He wondered. _What happened to Kakashi and Sakura?_

Haku had noticed the other boy's gaze. "It is over," he said plainly. Sasuke gave him a glare that was as cold as the air inside this icy house of mirrors. "Lord Zabuza has succeeded in his mission. Your teammates are dead and you will soon be as well."

"Like hell!" Sasuke spat out. He still had things to do in this world! He was _not_ about to die yet! "I'll take you down first!"

"How?" Haku asked, raising a valid point. "You cannot track my movements, even if you did get lucky with a fireball." He held up another handful of senbon. Haku was abruptly reflected in every mirror. "Now it's time for you to die. I'm sorry that it has to end like this." The boy's arm rose, ready to strike.

Haku let fly with his senbon and the air was filled with them. One of those was sure to hit a pressure point and kill the defiant genin in the blink of an eye. After that was taken care of, Haku would take his time and finish off Goku.

"I…will not…let it end…HERE!" To Haku's very great surprise and chagrin, Sasuke reached down and seized one of the senbon buried itself in his arm and yanked it out. Clinking filled the air as Sasuke's arm moved faster than Haku would've ever thought possible, deflecting each and every senbon, no matter which direction it came from.

The hunter shinobi watched his prey in suspense as Sasuke managed to get his ragged breathing under control, his eyes shadowed by his bangs. Even the normally emotionless Haku gasped when Sasuke looked up and glared at him with angry red eyes.

Sharingan eyes.

Sasuke knew something was up. He can finally see! His eyes felt warm, and every illusion of Haku had disappeared, leaving him with the real hunter and also the ability to track every senbon needle flying at him. It was faint, but each of the needles had a slight double of itself, just ahead of the weapon's current path. Sasuke had taken a gamble and blocked the first needle based on where the projection was. When the first block had been successful, the raven-haired avenger had wasted no time in doing the same with the other needles.

He smirked, once again the arrogant genius. "Now. Where were we?"

_So, he has a Kekkei Genkai as well. To unlock it during battle is a very rare thing indeed. _Haku had to admit that he was impressed with this genin from Konohagakure. _I will have to end this now before my chakra can decrease anymore._ The boy held up more senbon, fazing from mirror to mirror, Sasuke's immature Sharingan tracking him the entire time. _He has turned the tables. I can no longer kill him the way things stand now._ Haku's gaze shifted to the limp form of Goku. _So I'll attack his friends!_

Sasuke's red eyes widened when he saw Haku's eye slits on his mask shift past him and focus on Goku. Those same Sharingan eyes saw Haku leap from the mirror, speeding towards the fallen fighter.

_Dammit, no!_ that one thought pounded through Sasuke's head as he forced chakra into his feet and moved as fast as he could, trying desperately to intercept the hunter shinobi before he could kill the fallen warrior.

Blood began to drip from Kakashi's chest as he sliced up by Zabuza's demon blade. However, it was only a superficial wound. "You were slow on your guard, Kakashi!" grinned Zabuza. "Your desire to save those brats caused the blood to rise to your head, obscuring your thoughts and vision as surely as the fog I have created does! Even with your impressive eye and formidable powers you wield with it, your ability to read my movements has been blunted! I want to enjoy this Kakashi! Paying back what you did to me would give me the greatest pleasure! Don't worry, Haku should be finishing off those brats of yours right about now. I'll be reuniting you with them shortly. When you meet them in the afterlife, beg them to forgive you for your weakness and folly!"

Zabuza evilly laughed but was interrupted by Sakura's voice. "Sasuke won't be easy for someone like that masked kid to defeat! Neither will Goku!"

"You're right Sakura," said Kakashi. "I have faith in them and in their strengths. Goku's unpredictability and Sasuke is one of the most worthy heirs to the most superior bloodline of Konohagakure!"

"You don't mean…" said a surprised Zabuza.

"That's right," responded Kakashi. "His full name is Uchiha Sasuke. He's a ninja genius who carries in his genes the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan!"

"He's the sole surviving member of that tragic clan," said Zabuza. No wonder his development is remarkable! Zabuza then got his hand into jutsu hand sign position as he disappeared into the mist. He spoke as he disappeared, "So he may indeed be Haku's equal but no one has ever penetrated the secret of Haku's techniques until now. No one."

When Zabuza completely disappeared into the mist, Kakashi spoke up, "Sakura, don't move an inch. I'll finish this as quickly as I can!" Sakura nodded as Kakashi put some distance from Tazuna and Sakura to prepare for his next attack. "Did you hear that Zabuza? Do you truly believe after all the hardships, I have survived in this world armed only with the sharingan? I too was once a member a ninja assassin corps. I'll show you what kind of shinobi I once was. This isn't something I learned with the sharingan. Let me show you my own true art!" Kakashi took a scroll from one his chest's pockets and prepared to attack Zabuza.

That was when Goku awoke. The first thing his eyes fell on the masked hunter shinobi on the floor. Then, he saw blood dripping from above and when he looked up, he saw Sasuke, wobbling like a drunk man, numerous senbon needles sticking from the shirt that so proudly bore the fan-like crest of the Uchiha clan. "Sasuke?" Goku had to wonder. Since when did Sasuke defend him like this? Something was really wrong here; Goku could feel it deep inside.

"Heh. You're such an idiot," Sasuke wheezed out, the world beginning to grow dark. Death was creeping into the edges of his vision and soon he would completely fade away. He looked over his shoulder, a weak attempt at a smirk on his face. His eyes, though, ruined the effect. They held a light of sadness and warmth in them, as if Sasuke was happy he'd done what he did, but at the same time regretting it.

"Sasuke!"

"Keh…You…should see…your…face." Goku was shaking all over. The voice of his greatest rival sounded so weak and open, as if he knew his time was near.

"WHY!" Goku shouted, closing his eyes as he shouted his question. "I never asked for this?"

"I don't know why I did it…My…body…just…M…moved." No longer could Sasuke hold himself upright and he tipped backwards. Hands reached up to grab him and slowed his fall. Goku lowered his friend to the ground, even going out of his way to find a position that wouldn't drive the needles in deeper. Sasuke looked horrible. What little color his pale skin held was fading fast and there were bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in days. Twin streaks of blood ran from each corner of his mouth and flecked his chin as well. Goku's eyes widened in horror as his rival's own began to flutter, like he couldn't keep them open anymore.

"He's…still…out there." Goku forced himself to look Sasuke in the eye as the Uchiha breathed out his last words. "My brother…He's the one…I…have…to…k-k-kill." The last word was said in a rush of escaping air and Sasuke's eyes closed, not opening again. Goku had found that the world looked oddly blurry.

"He was a brave shinobi," spoke Haku as he retreated into one of the mirrors, "He struck one blow at me and without any sign of shirking, sacrificed himself for you. He died protecting the ones who meant the most to him. Such a death…It's the greatest death a shinobi can ask for. Is this the first a comrade of yours has died? Such is a ninja's path."

"Shut up." Goku murmured, grief and mourning heavy in his voice. It seemed odd for such a happy person to have such a tone. "Sasuke…" Now he was addressing the body. "I swear to you right now that I'll kill your brother in your memory." A new emotion washed over him like a breaking tsunami. Rage. It flooded every inch of him, warming him, waking him up like nothing could and bringing with it a renewed sense of power. "But first…" He glared at Haku and the masked shinobi took a step back in fear. Goku's one visible eye, yellow irises with a black pupil, turned towards Haku as he yelled, "I have to _kill_ this BASTARD!"

Power blasted up around the grieving genin, ripping furrows in the concrete as two rings of bright yellow chakra began swirling around Goku. His hair had spiked up, pointing towards the heaven, giving the color of yellow and then black until it settled to a tint of red. His muscles bulked up, yellow was his skin. The face was almost unrecognizable. There was anger on his face but his eyes; there was no hint of the yellow irises and black pupils anymore. Just emptiness. His body then started to give off a yellowish aura around his body. Haku stared at the boy transforming._ What is this power?_ Haku said to himself as he saw what Goku was becoming and for the first time felt fear within him. It was a power and a face that no one should see in their lifetime. A deadly power had been unleashed to the world.

* * *

Author's note: **Well there you have it! I had this chapter planned out for a while now. Kudos to anyone who can figure out Goku's transformation. More will be explained in later chapters. Thank you for reading and please be sure to write some reviews! I would greatly appreciate it! BTW Full Metal Jacket is Major Metallitron if anyone was unsure of who he was. I was using the original manga name which sounded cooler than the English anime dub name. Expect the finale of the Wave Arc in the next chapter as well as new arc that will have some DB characters! Peace!**


	10. Existence

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's new adventure: Goku and the rest of the gang have been training for the upcoming fight with Zabuza and Haku. Goku had overslept and went off running to catch up with the rest of the gang who had begun fighting against the Demon pair. Inari and his mother were attacked by Gero's goons and Goku came to their rescue. Goku then fought against Full Metal Jacket, a tough opponent that revealed to be a robot. Goku was able to defeat it with ease especially having the batteries dying out. Meanwhile, Sasuke was having his hands full with Haku and his ice jutsu. Goku had come in to save the day, only to make matters worse, gets stuck with Sasuke in the ice dome. Sasuke and Goku try to fend off Haku's attacks to no avail. During the fight, Sasuke is able to awaken the sharingan. Howeverhe dies protecting Goku from Haku's attacks. Goku, in a rage, unleashes a power unseen by this world! What will happen to Goku? Will he be able to come to his senses? Find out on Goku's New Adventure!_

* * *

Chapter 10: "Existence"

_Not good! What is this!_ Haku thought, experiencing fear for the first time since becoming Zabuza's apprentice. The yellow chakra burst off the ground, becoming a spiral that arced high into the air. _Chakra cannot be seen, but yet…I can see it! _The hunter ninja's hidden eyes widened when the senbon that riddled Goku's body were abruptly pushed clear as the wounds healed themselves. _Just what or who is he!_

Haku continued to watch in horrified fascination as a frightening transformation was taking place right before him. Goku's hair fluffed and went wild as it went up as if it was pointing to the heavens, giving off a red tint around it. His body was bulking up a bit from before and giving his skin color a yellow hue to it. His eyes, however, were nonexistent as if there was no collection of his irises and pupils. Just white with a never-ending emptiness, anger and rage behind them.

Kakashi and Zabuza stopped their battle when a cruel and oppressive force pounded them over and over. Zabuza looked at the ice mirror dome that Haku should've been killing Kakashi's brats in.

_What is this feeling?_ The Demon Swordsman wondered. _This chakra I'm feeling. Something about it fills me with dread! Is it Kakashi? No, it seems bigger than him somehow. But who is it?_

Kakashi was stopped cold and a chill passed over him. _Is Zabuza creating this?_ Kakashi wondered briefly, before a pulse in the power laid its true nature bare for him. _No! I know this chakra!_ He whirled, and saw something that truly scared him. A yellow whirlwind was raging inside the ice dome and it seemed to only get more intense. "The Shichibi!"

This was bad. If the seven-tailed dragon got out now, everyone and everything for miles around would be wiped out by a vicious and blood-thirsty dragon demon!

"The Shichibi?" Zabuza repeated, not knowing what the hell Kakashi was talking about. But that was before the memories of horrors past surfaced. When he spoke again, there was a definite note of panic in Kakashi's voice. "You don't mean…?"

Kakashi nodded, forgetting his duel with the other in light of his latest development. "Yeah. Shichibi Doragon. The Seven-tailed Dragon. The greatest menace to ever befall Konohagakure!"

"But I thought that your Fourth Hokage had sealed it away!"

"He did, but it looks like that the seal is weakening."

Haku shuddered in horror from the sheer amount of hatred and killing intent in this chakra. He watched as the chakra storm began to subside, but not before the spiral twisted itself into the form of a snarling dragon head. The head flew away, then everything went still, but the hatred and blood lust lingered like a wet sheet as a yellow surge of aura began to surrounding Goku like a flame. Goku was crouching in the middle of his icy funhouse with his tail up, growling and snarling like some kind of animal. His white eyes, even though they had lost its irises and pupils, were clouded by fury, looking at each mirror in turn, trying to find the real hunter ninja.

_I have to kill him!_ Haku thought quickly, drawing a handful of senbon. _Before he kills__me__!_ Something about the movement that Haku made in reaching for his senbon pouches drew Goku's full attention onto him. The masked shinobi had barely enough time to wonder how Goku had managed to find him before the enraged and super powered genin charged the mirror right in front of him, coincidentally the one Haku was occupying. "No!" Haku didn't hesitate, ejecting himself straight out the back of his mirror. His quick action saved his life as Goku's fist shattered the hard ice as if it was nothing more than a single pane of glass, sending ice fragments flying like a shower of shattered diamonds.

The masked shinobi had no time to wonder how impossible it was that his mirrors had been defeated so easily, nor could he evade when Goku fazed into existence before him, livid, vengeful blank eyes and demonic aura inches from Haku's blank mask, his right arm cocked back for a strike. The shinobi had to time to counter. He was this creature's plaything, and the incensed spiked-hair boy knew it.

The world went white as Goku's fist crashed into Haku's face with all the gentleness of a stampeding bull elephant. Haku went flying away, corkscrewing in the air. By habit he'd tried to roll with the punch, but it hadn't helped and Goku had still had the strength and the momentum to knock him flying. The flying shinobi crashed hard to the cement bridge deck, skidding and making a furrow of debris that hid everything except his masked face.

Both of the jounin were ignorant of the epic battle unfolding on the other side of the bridge. Kakashi had believed that some of the power of the demon dragon had slipped through, not cracking the seal. He turned his attention to Zabuza, now hidden in the mist. Kakashi hoped that this next technique would work and finish this fight for him to get to Goku.

He swiped a thumb across the wound, wincing a little as his ravaged nerves in the area protested against the sudden stimulation. With the scroll that he had dropped from one of the pouches on his flack vest, Kakashi unrolled it, passing his blood-covered thumb across the kanji scribbled across the page. "Listen to me Zabuza. I'm a busy man. You're a busy man. We've both got a lot on our plates and it goes against the grain to even suggest this, but what do you say we stop screwing around and wrap this up right now? One big move, winner take all?"

"An intriguing notion," spoke the voice in the mist. "What's left, Kakashi? Show me what you've got!"

Haku struggled to his feet, swaying as drunkenly as Sasuke had done before. His mask, which had held up surprisingly well from the vicious right cross Goku had given him, cracked with the sound of ice breaking and began to slide in pieces off of his face.

Goku was looking at one of his yellow hands with curiosity in his blank eyes, as if he was trying to determine which position would be the best way to kill Haku with. The hand clenched into a fist and the blank eyes locked onto the boy with the crumbling mask once again. The Konoha genin let out a roar and charged wildly for Haku.

Haku himself watched with the calm that takes over when one knows that their death is at hand. He wasn't afraid to die. He'd failed Zabuza and now he was about to be punished for it. He was but a broken tool now, nothing more than a thing to be thrown away and forgotten about.

Goku leapt into the air, clearly going to add the momentum of his fall to the punch and put his fist through Haku's head.

The last piece of the hunter shinobi's mask fell away and clattered to the ground.

"Why did you stop?" Haku asked, staring at Goku's fist without fear, even though it was mere inches from his face. "Why do you not kill me?"

"You're the kid I met that morning!" said Goku as he looked up at his opponent. His face had lost the previous enhancement of a demon. His irises and pupils had returned to his onyx eyes. His hair had returned to its original position and its original black color. His skin went back to normal as well.

"Why did you stop?" said Haku with a straight face, knowing that he was now a broken tool to Zabuza. "I murdered your comrade, your beloved friend and you still spare me?"

Goku looked back at the site where the dome once stood, seeing Sasuke still on the ground, lying dead. Goku then went back to his opponent and struck him with a right hook. However, he didn't put too much power into it. Haku went down the ground, spewing blood from his mouth. He had also noticed that Goku didn't put much force into the punch. "All the power you had before, where is it? You can't hope to kill me with the meager force you put into that blow."

Haku got up from the floor, wiping away the blood from his mouth as he spoke. "Often people have it wrong, mistakenly believing that showing mercy to an enemy is kindness. They spare the foe whose life is in their hands. But, don't you see? It's an empty existence! To go on living, alone and unloved, when defeat's already cost your dream!"

"Say what?" said Goku. He was confused. What did Haku mean by that?

"Lord Zabuza has no use for a weak shinobi, a broken tool. You have taken away my reason for living!" Haku said with a fake smile.

"Why?" said Goku with a bit of anger in his voice, as he was remembering what Haku had told him when they were in the forest. "Why waste all that devotion on such a creep? That mercenary scumbag doesn't care who he works for or who gets hurt, just so someone pays him! Is that browless wonder really precious to you? Is he your 'beloved friend'?"

Haku then looked down in sadness as he started to speak, "Once I was precious. I belonged to my parents. I was born in a snowy, little village in the land of mist. And I was happy. My parents were good, kind people. But, just as I was getting old enough to really notice the world around me, something happened."

"What happened?"

"Blood. My blood."

"Blood? What are you talking about?" responded Goku, curious to know what had made Haku like this.

Haku stared at Goku with a face of no emotion as he spoke, "My father killed my mother and tried to kill me."

"What? Why?" This had thrown Goku in a loop. What kind of a parent would do that?

"The Land of the Mist has been the scene of generations of non-stop war. Among its people, those who possess the kekkei genkai – skills that come out of our genetic inheritance – are loathed as abominations."

"Kekkei Genkai?"

Haku took a deep breath as he continued, "The term refers to clans whose bloodlines give them powers like mine. Inherited skills that were exploited and twisted, used to cause horrible slaughter until we ceased to be looked on as warriors or even weapons, but were condemned as the harbingers of doom. After the wars were over, we who possessed this trait were hunted, only able to survive by hiding the existence of our skills and our bloodlines away. Exposure meant certain death!"

Haku then looked at Sasuke, still on the ground, as he continued to speak, "I'm sure the boy I killed, who shared that skill, must also have grown up knowing the pain of which I speak. We are special. We are powerful. And we are feared. My father learned that my mother came from such a clan and before I even realized what I was about to do, my father had died by my hand." Haku then looked back Goku and spoke with sadness in his voice, "And then it came to me. I knew what I was. And I was forced to accept it. That was the most painful thing."

"The most painful thing?" asked Goku.

"Accepting that I was alone in the world. Superfluous. Unwanted. Shunned."

Goku flinched, caught by surprised as he knew Haku was talking about. Haku sounds the way he feels about his own existence. What reason is there in living if there is no special someone to fight for or having a purpose? Goku knew that feeling all too well.

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to become the number one ninja in your village and make everyone respect you?" asked Haku. Goku nodded while Haku continued to speak, "If you had someone in your life who did more than that, who acknowledged your existence even cared for you, wouldn't that person become the most important, treasured, person in your life? Lord Zabuza adopted me, knowing I came from a kekkei genkai bloodline. The very thing in me that made everyone else hate me, he didn't just overlook it. He cherished it. He wanted it!"

Tears started to crop up from Haku's eyes as he remember the days of Zabuza asking him to come with him. Haku had been given a purpose: to serve as a weapon and as tool to Zabuza. "I was so happy," said Haku. He then looked at Goku and said, "Goku, please take my life."

* * *

Kakashi tossed the scroll into the air, the roll of parchment snapping shut with a crisp rustling noise and his gloved hands began flying through a set of seals that would end this little skirmish.

"Earth Style: Fang Pursuit Jutsu!" Kanji for summoning poured out of the scroll and into the ground, a twisting web of hairline fractures racing off into the mist.

"This posturing will get you nowhere, Kakashi!" Zabuza said, "You can't even tell where I truly am! While I, on the other hand, know exactly where you are and exactly how to defeat! You are completely enmeshed in my spell! Now it's time for you to die!" Before he could take any action though, a cracking noise split the air and Zabuza looked down in time to see a massive black bulldog wearing a Leaf hirai-ate and a vest with some kind of symbol that looked like a face on it, lunged from the ground and bit into his right shoulder. Close to seven or eight more of the pooches, ranging from a tiny pug puppy to another massive dog, appeared from the ground and all sank their fangs into him.

Kakashi grinned as he stood from his kneeling position and pulled his headband back into its usual position as he spoke, "When your eyes and your ears have let you down, you can always follow your nose!"

"How?" Kakashi saw Zabuza being mauled by his ninja hounds in a state of shock. How was he able to find him? Kakashi started to close the distance between them two and as he walked, he said, "It worked because you shut your eyes in the mist. This conjuration is specifically designed for tracking. It's why I went out of my way to bleed a bit during both of our earlier encounters. The smell of my blood is all over you and your weapons, so thick that my little ninja pups couldn't miss it! Every dog has his nose and they all know you stink. So who's enmeshed in whose spell now?"

Kakashi then looked around and noticed that the fog was clearing out. He spoke, "The fog is lifting. I can see your future and your future is death." Now. Now was the time to end it all.

"You say my future is death?" said an unchanged Zabuza. "I have had enough of your bluffs."

"Who's bluffing now? There's no way out. Face it. You're going to die," said Kakashi. "Zabuza, you've had your fun. You schemed your schemes. The day you deserted the Land of the Mist and became a turncoat and renegade, your name and your actions were reported to us at Konohagakure. We know all about the failed coup you and your followers staged, and about the attempt to assassinate the Mizukage. You have been trying to raise funds for a second attempt, and barely staying a jump ahead of the shinobi hunters, which is what brought you here. It's why you'd stoop to work for a parasite like Gero. I'm going to be using an original jutsu, one that hasn't been copied by my sharingan."

Kakashi then did a series of hand signs until finally, he held out his right hand to channel chakra. This would appear to be similar to that of a ki ball used for the Kamehameha wave, however it was different. Lightning was surrounding the ball. Zabuza watched with wide eyes as Kakashi held a fistful of lightning, so intense that it charged the air around him, making a ring of the stuff on the ground. _What the!_ He said to himself, _I can almost see, the chakra in his palm, similar to what that brat did before!_

"You're a loose cannon," said Kakashi. The man you're trying to kill, Tazuna, is the heart and spirit of this place. And the bridge you're trying to prevent him from completing is the land's hope. You're willing to sacrifice this place and everyone in it, just to advance your own ambitions. That's not what a true shinobi does."

"Spare me the civics lesson and philosophy," said Zabuza. "I'm fighting for my own ideals. And I'm not about to stop."

"I'll say this just once more."

"Huh?"

"Give up…Your future is death," said Kakashi approaching Zabuza with his lightning hand.

* * *

"Please, Goku. Kill me now," said Haku to unmoving Goku. "What are you waiting for?"

Goku shuddering. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to kill the guy even after what he did to Sasuke. The only way was to talk. "What is with you? You're used to being the toughest. You don't like to lose. I get that! But wanting to die just because someone beat you is crazy!" Goku yelled, hoping to convince Haku to change his mind. "I don't want to kill you. I want you to live so I can fight you again. To tell you the truth, while I was fighting for my life, I was having a lot of fun. I like fighting strong opponents. Even I lose; it just means that I have get stronger."

"That day I met you in the forest, I remember thinking that we were two of a kind," said Haku as Goku flinched, remember that day as well. "Surely you can understand that you'll have to bloody your hands. Forgive me for that."

Goku stared Haku with a bit a shock. He grabbed his kunai, hoping that Haku would change his mind. Goku played out different scenarios in his head but he still didn't want to do this. As he said before, he had a lot of fun fighting Haku and was hoping that after this, they could fight again. He put away the kunai and looked Haku with a bit of sadness in his face, saying "I can't do this."

Then suddenly Haku felt something and looked towards Zabuza and Kakashi's direction, saying, "Lord Zabuza!" He disappeared, leaving a confused Goku behind.

* * *

Kakashi ran towards the impaled Zabuza, with the Lightning Blade in his hand, ready to kill the Demon Swordsman. At that moment, though, a figure came out of nowhere in front of Zabuza, stopping the attack. Blood spewed everywhere. The dogs disappeared, leaving only Kakashi, Zabuza and…Haku! Kakashi then realized that his attack didn't get Zabuza but the boy as his hand went straight through Haku's chest.

Haku, though fatally injured and shuddering at death's door, grabbed hold of Kakashi's arm. He spoke while spewing blood, "Lord…Zabuza…"

"You said my future was death," sneered Zabuza. "But you missed again, Kakashi."

"Haku," said Goku looking around for the boy, "where is he?" As he spoke, Goku noticed that the mist was fading away, allowing him to see things more clearly. Hoping to see if Kakashi had won, Goku ran up to figures that he thought was Kakashi and Zabuza. However, as he approached, Goku saw something that sickened him and cry. Haku was in between Kakashi and Zabuza with Kakashi's arm right through the boy.

"He jumped between us to save Zabuza," spoke Kakashi as he tried to free himself from the boy's grasp. As he struggled though, he noticed that boy was already dead with a smile in his face, proud of what he did.

Zabuza chuckled a bit, hiding away his emotions as he got his sword to swing at Kakashi and said, "That was brilliant Haku. I really did find a treasure in that gutter. To think that he'd grant me this marvelous chance in the end!"

Goku was pissed. How dare he do and say that to Haku? The boy practically worshipped him and yet he treated Haku like dirt. The unforgivable scumbag! Kakashi, meanwhile, was able to pull away at the last second, carrying Haku with him. He put some distance between him and Zabuza. Kakashi had also noticed Goku was watching, his rage building up and said to him before he could do something stupid, "Goku, stay out of this! This is my fight!" Kakashi closed Haku's eyes to leave him in peace.

Sakura saw Goku, hoping that Sasuke was with him and said, "Goku! You're alive! What about Sasuke? I don' see him." Goku flinched and was looking down towards the ground in sadness. Sakura picked and panicked, hoping that it wasn't true. She started trembling in sadness, wanting to go to Sasuke, to make sure that it wasn't some trick.

Tazuna looked at the poor girl, knew that she wanted to go to where Sasuke laid. He said to her, "I'll stay with you, so that way you won't be disobeying your sensei's order." Sakura nodded and took Tazuna's hand as they sped past Goku towards where Sasuke laid.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza continued to fight however, Kakashi was winning. He had been able to lay a few kunai's on one of the Demon's arm, immobilizing it. It was clear that Kakashi was having his way with him as he continued to pound Zabuza.

Sakura and Tazuna arrived to where Sasuke laid. Sakura was too shocked for words. She bent down hoping it was an illusion, not reality. She touched his face with her hand and felt the cold on his skin. Tazuna saw Sakura trembling and knew that she was holding back her tears. He patted her shoulder saying, "Don't hold back for my sake. There are times when it's right to give in and shed some good honest tears."

A few moments of silence had occurred. Both of their heads were down in sadness until Sakura spoke, "I always got perfect scores on all my tests in school." Tazuna looked at what, wondering what she meant by that. "I memorized each and every one of the one hundred rules of conduct for shinobi. I used to write them out with pride. We had a one day. And the question was… 'What is the twenty-fifth rule of shinobi conduct?' Just like always, I wrote it down." She stopped herself as tears came down. "No matter what happens, true shinobi must never, ever show their emotions! The mission is the only priority. Carry that in your heart and never, never, shed a tear." She couldn't hold back anymore as she wept on top of Sasuke as Tazuna looked on.

"Dammit!" screamed Zabuza as he was punched yet again by Kakashi. _How is this possible?_ He said to himself. Zabuza struggled and struggled but seemed that he couldn't get a hit on Kakashi. He knew that Kakashi was toying with him. Pissed, he swung his sword at Kakashi, only for it to be hit on the ground and Kakashi right behind him.

"Now there's no way you can beat me," said Kakashi as he pulled out two kunais. "This is goodbye…Demon!" Zabuza knew that death was coming but he wasn't about to be killed right now. He moved his mobile arm and blocked the kunais. However, he lost mobility in that usable arm.

Kakashi stepped back from the incoming hit and the demon sword that was launched at him. He looked at Zabuza, bleeding from both arms. "Now you can't use either arm. No jutsu. No Katas. No chakra." Kakashi readied himself to finish this fight off; however he was interrupted by a voice.

"Well, he's certainly made a fine mess out of you! What a pity."

Kakashi and Zabuza both look towards the direction of the voice to see Doctor Gero and his Red Ribbon Army behind him. His army consisted of hired samurai as well as any low-life degenerate that would nothing more than world domination. Gero stood in front of the army, ready to give the signal for the attack.

Zabuza was in a bit of a surprise, "Dr. Gero, what are you doing here? And why did you bring all of your army?"

"There's been a slight change of plan, Zabuza. Or of your plans, anyways. This was what I had in mind all along," spoke Gero with a hint of malice in his voice. "You're going to die, Demon…here and now."

"What?" said a surprised Zabuza.

"You must have guessed. I never intended to pay you," said Doctor Gero as he walked up to them. "It's such a bother hiring a skilled shinobi affiliated with one of the top villages. It's expensive and they tend to have friends who object when I betray and kill them. It's so much simpler to hire renegades life yourself. No one cares what I do to your kind once the job is done. All of you ninja are so eager to fight each other. Once you've worn each other down, common thugs can finish off the rest. It's a great business plan. Efficient and inexpensive. My only mistake was hiring you in the first place. Calling yourself the Demon of Kirigakure is just plain false advertising!" Gero then chuckled and spoke, "You're no demon…more like a baby demon, if that." All of the army started to laugh out loud.

Zabuza stood there, appearing to be unaffected by this new chain of events. "Forgive me, Kakashi," said the Demon Swordsman, "our fight is over. I no longer have any reason to assassinate Tazuna which settles our differences."

Kakashi nodded and responsed, "Yeah, you're right."

"That reminds me," said Dr. Gero as he had finally reached his destination…the body of Haku. "I am grateful for what you did to me before since I was able to construct a robotic arm for the one that you destroyed. But I still have a score to settle." Then he did something that immediately caught everyone in anger. He spat on Haku, kicked his face and said to the lifeless body, "Dead meat. Carrion."

This pissed Goku off. How dare he do that? "What the hell are you doing, you monster?" yelled Goku in anger as he dashed towards where Gero stood before being pulled back by Kakashi.

"Cool down. Think. There's a lot of them," said Kakashi while pulling back Goku with all his might.

"I don't care! No one does that to anyone!" yelled Goku. He then looked at Zabuza and yelled at him, "Hey, why don't you do something? He worked for you! He was practically your slave!"

"Like what brat? Haku is dead," responded Zabuza.

"But you should care!" Goku continued. "That scumbag is desecrating him! He was your comrade, your partner. He worked for you for years!"

"Doctor Gero has been using me and I used Haku," said an indifferent Zabuza. "Weren't you listening? It's a shinobi's lot. All of us are either users, tools or both. I didn't value Haku for himself, but for the taint his blood carried and for what his talents could do for me. I apologize for nothing."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Stop it Goku!" said Kakashi as he tried to pull Goku back from Zabuza and from doing something stupid. "Leave him alone. Our quarrel is over. Besides which…"

"Shut up!" yelled Goku as he pulled away from Kakashi's grip as he pointed his index finger to Zabuza. "He's still my enemy!"

"Who is that obnoxious brat?" said Gero looking on from a far.

Goku had heard that comment and said to the evil Doctor, "My name is Son Goku of Squad 7! I will defeat you for what you did to this village and to Haku!"

Gero smirked and said, "You're making quite a nuisance of yourself!"

Goku gritted his teeth in anger until he heard Zabuza speak to him, "Why do you say I'm still your enemy? Didn't you hear, I have no quarrel with you anymore."

Goku looked at Zabuza and yelled while pointing at the lifeless body of Haku, "Haku…he really cared about you! He was devoted to you! But you think that's just nothing, that he was nothing. You don't feel a thing! Are you really that heartless?"

Zabuza stood there in silence. Goku was hoping for some kind of response but nothing. Tears started to come out from his eyes as he continued to yell at Zabuza, "Is that how you get, when your powers are as strong as yours are? He gave his life for you! He died without any of his dreams ever coming true. To die as his tool, that's too much, too cruel."

"Kid." Goku looked up to see something completely unexpected. Tears were coming down from the Demon's eyes. "Not another word." This had caught Goku by surprise completely. Maybe he did have a heart.

Zabuza then looked at Haku as he spoke, tearing the bandages around his mouth, "Kid, what Haku did was not just for me. While we fought, he broke his heart over you and your friends. That's the truth. He was too kind, too gentle. I'm glad my last battle was against you, boy. You're right, you know." Goku was a bit confused on what he meant. "Say what we will, do what we will. In the end, we shinobi are still just people after all with feelings all-too-human. And I've lost everything. Would you lend me your kunai knife boy?"

Goku nodded and threw his kunai in the direction of Zabuza, wondering what he was going to do with it. Zabuza then grabbed the kunai with his mouth and sped towards where the good Doctor was. Gero, panicking, went back running towards his army as he shouted out his orders, "What are you waiting for? Kill them all!"

The soldiers sneered, thinking that Zabuza was going to be easy prey being half-dead already. Oh how wrong they were. Zabuza sped past the first line, killing those in his path. Zabuza then stood in the middle, killing and slicing up soldiers of the dreaded Red Ribbon Army. All of the soldiers thought that he was a demon.

Doctor Gero stood at the end of the bridge, ready to escape if necessary. He looked back to see if Zabuza was dead. But what he saw was out of this world. The Demon still stood, surrounded by blades all over his body. He ran up to Gero, stabbing him in the abdomen. Gero gushed out a bit of blood as he spoke, "If you're in such a hurry to be reunited with your little friend, go alone!"

Zabuza smirked and said, "I have no intention of going to the same place as Haku."

"What are you babbling about?"

"Heh," smirked the Demon. "I'm taking you with me to hell!" Zabuza then took out the blade and slashed in upward motion, sending Gero into the depths below in death. As the sound of the water splashing was heard, Zabuza turned around to see the soldiers looking at him in fear. Zabuza was ready to take a few more with him but was losing strength fast and fell towards the floor.

Goku, from a distance saw what happened, looked away. "Don't look away. This was the end of a man who lived full out."

Sakura continued to cry on top of Sasuke, unaware of what was going on. "Sakura…" She continued to sob loudly, not hearing it the first time. "Sakura…" This time she had heard and looked at Tazuna, since she thought it was him that said it. But it hit her and looked at Sasuke, who was half-awake, "Sakura…your arm's heavy."

Sakura then screamed out loud his name in tears of happiness of him being alive. She helped him get up into a sitting position. He looked at her and asked, "How's Goku? And that little creep in the mask, what happened to him?"

"Goku's fine! And the boy in the mask is dead," Sakura replied.

Sasuke flinched. Did Goku defeat that boy when he, an Uchiha, couldn't? "Dead? Did Goku do it?"

"N-no," replied Sakura. "I mean, I'm not sure. I didn't see it very well. But the boy died trying to protect Zabuza. But you sure are amazing Sasuke. You survived a deathblow."

"No, he never planned to from the start," said Sasuke.

Sakura then yelled out Goku's name to tell him that Sasuke was alright. Tears of happiness streamed down his face, seeing his friend well. Kakashi looked back at the group and said with a sigh of relief, "I've been worrying since the fight began but Sasuke made it after all. Fantastic!"

However, this moment of peace was rudely interrupted. "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something!" Goku and Kakashi turned their heads around, forgetting that the Red Ribbon Army was still here. "You ninja killed our leader and now you're gonna die! The only way we can avenge our boss is to kill you guys and overrun the city and loot every business and home! Let's go!" said one of the soldiers signaling to attack.

"This isn't good," said Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, isn't there some jutsu we can use to take them all down at once?" asked Goku.

"I'm afraid with the lightning blade, the illusions and conjurations, for the moment, I'm exhausted my chakra," replied Kakashi.

Suddenly, an arrow was shot down in front of the incoming soldiers. Everyone turned around to see where the arrow had come from. "Stop where you are!" It was the villagers and Inari. "This island is our home. One step further and you will die where you stand!"

"Inari!" yelled Goku in happiness. Boy, was he glad to see them!

Inari grinned and said, "It's being a hero, you know? All that nick of time stuff!"

"Good one, kid. Mind if I join in? Shadow Clone Jutsu!" yelled Goku and a good amount of clones of Goku appeared. Kakashi meanwhile, thought about it for bit, since he didn't have much chakra left. Still, a bluff will be good enough for these bozos!

"Shadow Clone Jutsu: Kakashi style!" Out appeared a bigger amount of clones than Goku had produced before. This freaked the army out. They started to run away, knowing that their defeat was inevitable.

As the last remnant of the Red Ribbon Army disappeared, the villagers all cheered in joy and happiness. Kakashi walked up to the body of Zabuza who was still barely alive. "Looks like it's all over eh Kakashi?" Zabuza said in a low voice.

"Yeah," replied Kakashi.

"Kakashi, do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"I want to see his face," said Zabuza with tears in his eyes.

Kakashi pulled down his headband to cover his sharingan eye and said, "Sure."

Goku, while looking at Kakashi and Zabuza, felt something cold on his face. He looked up and saw it was snowing. But snow, in the middle of summer? Was this done by Haku, Goku wondered.

Kakashi then laid Zabuza down next to Haku. Zabuza spoke his gratitude to Kakashi as he turned his head towards his partner…his friend. "Haku…you were at my side right from the start and I'm at yours, at the end. If I could, if I were able to, I would want to go to the same place on the other side as you." Then his world went dark as he died alongside his friend and companion.

Everyone looked on at the scene. "He was born in a village where it snows a lot," said Goku in tears.

"I see," replied Kakashi. "He was a pure spirit as true and clean as a newly fallen snow. You can go with him, Zabuza. Go to that place together."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the shore, a figure was struggling to get out of the water and onto the beach. It was Doctor Gero! As he grabbed a collection of sand in his mechanical hand, he looked up with rage in his eyes. _Damn Zabuza! Damn him!_ Gero said to himself. _If it wasn't for that obnoxious brat and his team of ninja, none of this would have happened. Now the Red Ribbon Army has been disbanded and plans for world domination over, it is time for something different: revenge. _He turned his head around towards the bridge and spotted Goku and his team._ I swear, Son Goku...you and your squad will feel my wrath. I will discover the truth behind your powers and use them against you. I will construct the most powerful beings in the worl! No one escapes from Doctor Gero! Wait and see! I will have my revenge!_ Gero got up and started to walk towards the nearest base, leaving behind an evil laugh.

* * *

_Two weeks later_

Squad seven were standing in front of the graves of both Haku and Zabuza, leaving some offerings. A moment of silence was upon them. Sakura spoke up as she placed her offerings, "Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked up and asked, "Yes Sakura?"

"I can't help wondering," replied Sakura. "Were those two right about what a ninja should be?"

Kakashi paused and then said, "A shinobi shouldn't be concerned with a reason for her own existence. It is important merely that we exist as a tool for our homeland to use in whatever way they need. That's as true for us in Konohagakure as it is for ninja anywhere else."

"Is that really what becoming a full-fledged shinobi's gonna be about?" said Goku. "I don't like the sound of it!"

"Do you really that way, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sasuke.

"Well…no" replied Kakashi. "And that's why all we ninja live our lives with that ideal always bubbling beneath the surface of our minds, disturbing us. Like it did Zabuza and the boy."

"That's it!" yelled Goku, pounding his chest with a fist. "I've made up my mind! I am going to create my own nindo, my own ninja way. My own destiny!"

Kakashi smiled.

_The next morning_

Squad seven, Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami all stood in front of the completed bridge, saying their good-byes. Tazuna spoke, "Thanks to you, our bridge has finally been completed, but it's going to be awfully dull around here, once you're gone."

"We've enjoyed your hospitality," said Kakashi with a smile.

Goku had his Son grin as he spoke, "We'll come back to play with you again sometime!"

"You better!" said Inari in tears.

All of squad seven turned around and went off to go back to the village. As they disappeared into the distance, Tazuna spoke, "That boy, Goku, touched little Inari's heart and Inari touched the hearts of all the people in our city. Goku built the bridge that eventually carried us all to hope and courage!"

"And speaking of bridges," spoke his bridge builder companion, "we still have to officially dedicate this one."

Tazuna grinned and said, "And there's only one name that will truly fit."

"What?"

"How about the Great Goku Bridge?"

Tsunami giggled and said, "It's a nice name, Dad."

"Are you sure? Calling it that?" asked the co-worker.

Tazuna grinned and said, "Quite sure. You see, I hope that in giving it that name, we'll ensure that it will stand forever. Our bridge will become super-famous the world over, as a symbol of triumph and endurance! That's what I hope and hopefully, that's how it will be." Tsunami and Inari nodded as they looked on to the distance for a bright future.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in a temple in the Land of Green Peas_

A stone door is knocked down to the floor, revealing four mysterious figures. Their faces are unseen due to the small amount of light there is. One of the figures stepped into the room, holding up a light in his hand to put forth more light. This figure appeared to be the leader.

"Well, Master?" said one of the figures who had a low gruff voice like a drum.

"Is this the room?" said one who had also a low voice but wasn't gruff as the other one, like a cymbal is to a drum.

The leader grinned evilly and turned around towards his servants, waving his cape in the air. "Yes it!"

"At last! We have found it!" said the last one whose voice was in between the other two servants, sounding in a pitch of a tambourine.

"Now, all we need is the key," said the leader.

"Where will we find it? We still can't find it even after all these years!" said the cymbal-like voice.

"Patience my servant. We will have the key in our hand and resurrect our Demon Lord!" grinned the leader. "We shall find it…in the next Tenkaichi Budokai tournament!"

* * *

Author's note: **Cliffhanger! Don't you just hate that? Anyways, that is the end of the wave arc. I wrote this chapter really fast because I wanted to go onto the next arc which is mostly an original arc involving some DB characters if you haven't noticed already. It should be exciting! I can't wait. I want to say thanks again to WingedFreedom622 for the use of some of his lines in this chapter. It was greatly appreciated. Please Review when possible! I want to say thanks for those who have! You guys are awesome! While off to writing the next chapter! Peace!**


	11. Tenkaichi Budokai

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball and/or Naruto (I wish). Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Goku had unleashed an incredible power that was felt by everyone on the bridge. Goku unleashed his new power on Haku, who was at the mercy of the beast. However, Goku didn't give the killing blow as he found out it was the boy that Goku had met before in the forest. Goku and Haku talked about their existence and what it meant to have a purpose. Haku's purpose was to serve Zabuza and sacrifice his life if need be. And he did. Haku took the killing blow for Zabuza from Kakashi's lightning blade attack. Kakashi was able to put aside the boy safely as he went on to beat Zabuza but their fight was interrupted by Dr. Gero and his Red Ribbon Army. Zabuza, betrayed by his client, took matters into his own hands as he went to eliminate some of the army and Dr. Gero as he sent him into the ocean. Goku and Kakashi were then rescued by the acts of the village who came to protect their homes. It went better from there as well with Sasuke having survived the attack from Haku. Dr. Gero, however was able to escape from Zabuza and vowed revenge against Goku and squad 7 of Konohagakure. As squad 7 returned home with a new found knowledge, a new evil lurks in the shadows. Their goal has to do with a major event coming up...the Tenkaichi Budokai! Will our heroes stop this menace before it's too late? Find out on the next Goku's New Adventure:_

* * *

Chapter 11: "Tenkaichi Budokai"

"Ugh…damn light," said Goku as he woke up from his slumber. Light was breaking through one of the cracks of the curtains in his room. It had been five days since Squad 7 had left the land of waves and not a lot has changed in Konohagakure when they arrived the day before. When they arrived, Kakashi had given the three genin the day off. Everyone then did their own thing. Goku went out to eat with Iruka, Sasuke did his own thing, and Sakura went off to take good, nice bath.

Though it had been good day yesterday, it was time to get to work. Goku got off from his bed, ate his usual amount of breakfast, got changed into his blue gi with yellow pants, black boots, his orange wristbands and tied his waist with a white sash with the Leaf hitai-ate attached on it. Goku got everything else, closed the door behind, locked it and let out a loud yawn.

"Today is gonna be a great day!" yelled Goku as he raced towards the meeting spot of Squad 7.

It was early morning and Sakura and Sasuke were waiting in the usual meeting spot. Sasuke was silent as usually and Sakura, all red on her face, trying to muster her courage to talk to Sasuke and ask him out on a date. As she was about to say something, she heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning guys!" yelled Goku as he raced towards them.

Sakura lifted her hand and waved at him. "Good morning Goku!" said Sakura. _Dammit Goku, you have the worst timing!_ thought Sakura.

As Goku came up to the group, he locked eyes with Sasuke. Both of them stared at each other for a while, until both of them turned their heads in disgust. Sakura was left dumbfounded as to why these two kept doing this ever since they left the land of waves.

Silence was in the air as the three genin were waiting for their sensei.

_Three hours later_

"Good morning, everyone," said Kakashi as he waved to his squad, I'm afraid I got lost on the way here."

"Your nose is growing, Sensei!" yelled Sakura in anger. Always so late!

"As ninja deceptions go, that one sucks," said Goku.

"Anyways," Kakashi said with a sweat drop, "let's head out for our mission."

"Alright!" said Goku in excitement. _This mission will be my moment to shine,_ said Goku to himself. _This time, I will be the one saving them, not the other way around. Can't wait!_

_At the mission's end…_

"You'd have been fine if you hadn't overdone it," said Sakura as she was carrying a battered and depressed Goku. It seems things didn't go as planned.

"You are a real nuisance," said Sasuke.

That stroke a nerve as Goku flinched and faced towards Sasuke, screaming, "That does it! Let's duke it out Sasuke!" Goku raised his fists, ready to fight but was pounded into the ground by an angry Sakura. Damn, Goku was annoying.

Kakashi sighed and said, "Lately, your teamwork has been almost non-existent."

"That's right!" yelled Goku as he got up from the ground. "You tell him Kakashi-sensei! You're always messing up our teamwork, Sasuke!"

"He was talking to you, dumbass," said Sasuke. He turned his head around towards Goku with a serious scowl on his face as he spoke. "If you are so sick of being in my debt, why don't you get better than me?" The two warriors stared at each other with a high tension in the air for a few seconds, though it seemed like an eternity.

Kakashi sighed, pushed the two genin aside and said, "You can do this later. Right now, we have to report to Lord Hokage. Is that understood?" All three genin nodded and walked towards the direction of the Hokage building.

As the squad went up to meet with the Hokage, Sasuke was in deep thought, thinking about the last fight. _Dammit, I hate this_, he said to himself. _There are guys out there who could challenge me, but I'm stuck on nothing assignments with this twerp_.

Kakashi gave his report to Hokage on his last mission. Sarutobi looked at three genin and said to himself, _they haven't changed much_. "Thank you, Kakashi."

"It's my pleasure, Lord Hokage," Kakashi bowed politely.

Sarutobi took another puff from his pipe as he spoke, "Now then, for your next mission, it is a special request made by an old friend of mine."

"What kind of mission, old man?" asked Goku, hoping it was a cool mission to show off his skills.

"A protection mission," said Sarutobi as he heard a moan from Goku. Déjà vu all over again. "It's the protection of an old man who is a dear friend of mine. It's a C-level mission. Your duty is to protect him while he watches a martial arts tournament. He will give instructions on how to proceed with your duties."

"What kind of instructions?" asked Sakura.

Sarutobi grinned and said, "Why don't you ask him that question Sakura? You can come in!"

The whole squad then turned their heads towards the opening the door and saw two figures. It was an older man and a small boy. Goku grinned with his usual grin as he recognized one of the figures. "Roshi-sensei!"

It was Muten Roshi with his usual sunglasses and his turtle shell. He was carrying a cane this time around. Roshi looked around the room and saw Goku as well, grinning as he spoke, "Well, it has been a while Goku, hasn't it?" Goku nodded in agreement.

The other two genin had dumbfounded looks on their face. When they heard about Muten Roshi, they had thought it was going to be someone great, not an old man with a turtle shell. Sasuke was the one in most disbelief, but deep inside, he was kind of glad in a way. To his eyes, Muten Roshi seemed like a weakling.

Kakashi walked up to the Turtle Hermit and bowed politely as he spoke, "It's good to see you again, Muten Roshi."

Roshi bowed as well. "It's good to see you again Kakashi," said Roshi. He then turned to other figure and nudged him, trying to make him polite. The smaller figure gave out a grunting sound, making it seem like this was a waste of his time.

"My name is Kuririn and I come from a village in the east. I am Roshi's disciple," said the bald head boy. He was about at the same height as Goku. He was bald, had no nose and wore a strange outfit. An outfit that would make it look he was from a temple. The most peculiar thing though was the six dots on his forehead that gave off a strange aura. Kakashi and Sarutobi were the only ones to pick up this vibe.

Kakashi walked up to him and said with a smile, "Hi, glad to meet you. My name is Hatake Kakashi. This is Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and…"

"And Son Goku!" said Goku with a grin on his face.

Kuririn look at Goku with a face of _who the hell is this guy?_. "So are you the Monkey King or something? You seem pretty weak," asked Kuririn.

"No and I am not weak. In fact, I am going to be Hokage someday!" said Goku with a hint of anger behind his voice. He didn't like being called monkey by anyone even though he did have a monkey tail. He did, however, feel proud about stating his dream.

Kuririn looked at Roshi and asked, "Hey Roshi-sensei, isn't being Hokage means that you are the strongest ninja in this village or something?" Roshi nodded which made Kuririn then turn towards Goku and say, "Well then I suppose the title has lost its meaning along the way."

"What?" said Goku in a bit anger. Man, he really wanted to hit Kuririn. _Man, this guy is as annoying as Sasuke!_

Kakashi sensing the tension rising inside the room, let out a loud 'ahem' cough and said, "Well Muten Roshi, should we get going then?"

"Yes, lets," responded Roshi, also picking up the tension in the air.

_

* * *

Outside the Village Gates_

"Alright!" yelled Goku, fist pumping in the air. "Let's do it."

"Goku sure is excited," said Roshi with a grin.

"He sure is," said Sakura. As they walked down the path away from the village, something kept being amiss from the mission details. Sakura wanted to ask on this, "Muten Roshi, Lord Hokage mentioned that you had additional instructions for us during the mission, what were they?"

Roshi grinned a bit and said, "I am glad that you asked Sakura. You see, I am going to watch the Tenkaichi Budokai tournament, where I am going to need extra protection."

"Why?" asked Sakura. Surely, no one is gonna mess with an old man.

"Because Sakura," said a voice behind Sakura. She turned around to see it was Kakashi talking, "Muten Roshi is very famous martial arts teacher who many have asked for his training and skills but he has decline many and accepted only a few."

"Then why need protection if he is such a great martial artist?" asked Sasuke.

"Think about it," replied Kakashi. "Much like a ninja, a martial artist may hold many secrets such as techniques that person had mastered. In the case of Muten Roshi, his skills are beyond human limits and if those skills were to fall to the wrong hands, imagine the damage that they could cause."

"You are right Kakashi. But there is a reason why we are going to the Tenkaichi Budokai tournament," said Roshi. "Kuririn is going to participate and I wish to watch."

"I'm sorry Muten Roshi but you never did explain what this tournament is?" asked Sakura.

"Well Sakura, it's a martial arts tournament where they gather martail arts masters from all over the world and decide who is the 'Strongest under the Heavens!'" replied Sakura.

"It's an awesome tournament!" said Kuririn in excitement.

Goku looked away a bit, with a sad face as he spoke, "Man, I wish I could enter too."

"Actually," said Roshi, "you are going to participate too Goku."

"What?" said Goku in surprise. He then had the biggest grin ever seen as he fist pumped the air, yelling, "Alright! I can't wait!"

Kuririn turned towards Roshi and asked, "But sensei, I thought you said that only your disciples would enter the tournament?"

Roshi nodded and said in reply, "That's right I did. And Goku is one of my disciples as well."

"Really?" said Kuririn as he turned his head towards a smiling Goku. "He doesn't have the stomach for it."

"What?" yelled Goku as that last comment by Kuririn had snapped out of his happy place. "I have plenty of stomach!" Everyone fell backwards in anime style.

Sakura then went up to Goku, hitting him on the head hard. "You are such an idiot!"

"Actually," said Kakashi, "Goku isn't the only one participating. Sasuke is as well."

"I am?" this had surprised Sasuke a bit, but at the same time, he went back to earlier thought that he had before. He said that he felt he was going backwards and not finding enough challenges. With this tournament, maybe he can improve his skills for later.

Kakashi nodded and said, "That's right. I don't think it would be fair for Goku to be the only one participating from squad 7. Don't you agree Muten Roshi? After all you were the one who requested us specifically." Roshi nodded in agreement.

Kakashi then turned his head towards Sakura, who looked down a bit, thinking that she may have to participate as well. "Don't worry Sakura, you will help protect Roshi with me." That had made Sakura's day, as long as she didn't have to fight. Plus, she would get to see Sasuke fight! Heee!

Kuririn then faced forwards as he let out a loud grunt and said, "As long you don't get in my way, especially the Monkey boy!"

"Say what?" said Goku. Man was this guy annoying. But he took a deep breath and said, "You know…your head looks like a pachinko ball!"

Kuririn stopped and turned to Goku, nerves pinching his head in anger as he spoke, "How dare you? All who aspire to master the martial arts shave their heads in order to unfetter their ki!" He then pointed to Roshi and said, "Take the venerable Muten Roshi as your model!"

"Actually," said Roshi, "I'm just bald." Silence came down on the group. A bird croaked in the trees. Kuririn, red from embarrassment, turned around with a grunt noise and walked forward. Everyone else followed behind him with Kakashi sighing. This was going to be another long mission…again.

After walking for a while, Kuririn turned his head to Goku and asked, "Hey Monkey boy!"

"What?" said Goku in anger. Obviously, Kuririn hit a nerve with Goku with his new nickname.

"Why do you want to study martial arts? I mean, you are a ninja right? Shouldn't that be enough?" asked Kuririn.

"Well," replied Goku, "I want to become stronger to achieve my dream of becoming Hokage someday. If this training helps me get there faster, then I will do it no matter what."

Kuririn then turned his head towards the front and said with an arrogant voice, "Heh. What a stupid dream."

"Say what?" Goku said angrily as he got ready to pound Kuririn in the ground. He was stopped however by Sakura when she hit him on the head, again.

"Goku calm down!" said Sakura as she hit pretty hard on the head. She then turned to Kuririn and said, "What about your dream Kuririn? Why do you follow martial arts?"

Kuririn smirk as turned around with his hands on his sides as he said proudly, "I want to be a really great fighter and get more popular with the girls!"

Sakura then sweat dropped at the idiocy of his dream. "With a dream like that, you shouldn't make fun of others either."

"You shouldn't then get involved, you broad-browed hag!" said Kuririn as he turned around to the front. As he turned around though, he felt the bloodlust growing in the air. He shivered as he didn't want to know where it was coming from.

Sakura, in the meantime, was held back by Kakashi. He held her with a strong grip, knowing that she may kill Kuririn. Roshi laughed and smiled at these transgressions. Sasuke on the other hand, was a bit embarrassed. _How did I get associated with such losers_?

_

* * *

The Land of Warriors_

The company had finally arrived to the Budokai arena in the land of warriors, a fitting name for a country that promotes the greatest martial arts tournament in the world. There were people everywhere, all of shapes and sizes. There was an arena and a building behind it with the words 'Tenkaichi Budokai' laid on the front. It felt like entering into a temple. Kuririn, Goku and Sakura were in a bit of shock of amazement. While those three were gasping at the scenery, Roshi and Kakashi called them to sign up.

The group walked up to the registration desk to sign in, with a bit of resistance from the clerk. He thought it was a joke from Roshi in signing up three kids. But still they were registered and were given sheets to present when entering inside the building.

"Do you think there a lot of contestants here?" asked Goku still in amazement of the scene in front of them.

"Something tells me that there is gonna be plenty," replied Sakura. _Thank Kami that I don't have to enter this tournament, _thought Sakura. Kuririn was still in a daze as well. However, when he turned his head to the side, he saw a few angry faces with disgust at him. He looked down to the floor with a sad face but didn't want to show it to everyone else.

"Now don't get lost in rubbernecking! We have got to find those qualifying matches!" said Roshi.

"Attention!" said a man with a speakerphone. "All contestants participating in the tournament! Qualifying rounds will soon begin in the competition hall!"

"That means us," said Roshi as he presented the papers to the admission desk.

The clerk, nervously sweating, asked, "You are not seriously planning for these kids to compete?"

"Of course I am!" said Roshi with a face that he meant it and was ready to argue. The clerk didn't want to take a chance and gave up arguing as he pressed the seal on each sheet for the three warriors to pass in.

Roshi and Kakashi took the sheets and gave them to three warriors. "Alright then," said Roshi, "we can only accompany you this far."

"And," added Kakashi, "we want you go out and try your best. But, Goku and Sasuke, this is a martial arts tournament. Which means, no weapons and no wearing your hitai-ate. We don't want to attract unwanted attention to ourselves." Sasuke and Goku nodded and went to join up with Kuririn who started to head inside.

"Oh. I almost forgot," said Roshi. "Goku and Kuririn, I have a present for you." Goku and Kuririn had a bit of dumbfounded feature on their face, wondering what he wanted to give. Goku thought it was probably something perverted. Roshi then took out some clothes from a suitcase and gave them to Goku and Kuririn. "Why don't you try them on?"

After a few minutes of changing, Goku and Kuririn came out wearing a different outfit, an orange outfit. It consisted of blue training boots, orange baggy pants, a blue belt, and an orange tank-top. On the back of the shirt there was a large Kame symbol, and on the front a smaller version of it. "Neat-o!" said Goku as he wore his clothes proudly. Kuririn just shrugged off, not showing any emotion. However, deep inside, he was proud as well.

Sasuke then look at Kakashi and said, "I don't want to wear that."

Kakashi smiled and was about to speak but was interrupted by Roshi, "Don't worry Sasuke. You don't have to. These clothes are meant for those who follow the Kame School of martial arts like Goku and Kuririn have." He then looked at the other two boys and said, "You both have earned the right to wear those clothes as my disciples."

Goku and Kuririn nodded. Kakashi then looked at three warriors and said to them, "Now remember, the eight entrants who make it through the qualifier will fight in front of the audience! Roshi, Sakura and I will be out front, so if we get to see you, we will have no complaints. Good luck."

"Thanks," said Goku with a smile, "we will do our best sensei!"

"Good luck," said Sakura with Goku hoping to say…"Sasuke!" Goku looked down in sadness and anger. _Dammit why does it always have to be Sasuke!_ said Goku to himself.

All three warriors entered inside the building and came across a wide amount of people that were ready for the tournament with four mats. Goku and Kuririn stood in amazement as the size while Sasuke gave his 'I don't care' look as always. While both Goku and Kuririn were looking around, Goku had noticed a few hateful glares from some monks that wore the similar clothing of Kuririn before. Goku thought it was towards him, like some of the villagers have done back in Konohagakure, but he realized they weren't for him but for Kuririn.

_Why to Kuririn?_ thought Goku as he saw that Kuririn knew about those glares but didn't show he was affected by them. _What did he do?_ As Goku continued to wonder, he heard a voice on the microphone at the center mat.

"Ahem…" said the bearded monk into the microphone, "For five years, contestants, you have trained and waited for this opportunity to compete for the title of 'Strongest under the Heavens.' You have journeyed here from all corners of the world. This year we have a total of 137 masters from around the world, from whom only eight will be allowed to enter the final rounds. This year we will truly be honored by a very fierce competition indeed."

Mummers were heard across the hall as the elder continued to speak, "Listen well. I will explain the competition's rules. All contestants will fight atop these mats. Should you fall off, or lose consciousness, or plead 'mercy,' or cry, you lose. However, you may not kill your opponent! Nor may you use weapons!" More mumblings were heard as some people, such as ninja, wanted to use their weapons.

The elder continued, "The qualifying round will last only one minute, and if the match has not been settled by that time, victory will be decided upon the judges. Due to the great number of contestants, the qualifying rounds have been divided into four blocks. The two ultimate victors from each block will be named entrants in the finals. One by one, please draw a slip of paper, compare the number on it to the chart, and proceed to your block."

"Please come up to the box to pick out your number," said one of the referees. Goku, Sasuke and Kuririn came up to the box. Goku had picked up number 70, Kuririn number 93, and Sasuke number 21.

The three of them looked at the chart to find their spot. Goku and Kuririn were in block 3 but wouldn't fight against each other, much to the disgust of Goku who really wanted to fight Kuririn. Sasuke on the other hand was in block 4 and wouldn't have to worry about fighting either one of them. Goku and Kuririn went to the third mat while Sasuke went to the fourth mat. "Hey Sasuke, don't lose. I want to fight you," yelled Goku to his rival.

Sasuke gave a grunt and said to him, "Dream on, loser. Let's see if you can reach me first."

Goku nodded as he got pumped up, ready to rumble. Kuririn, on the other hand, was wondering on what the deal was with Goku. Goku's number was called and he went into the mat. Everyone around the mat was wondering why a little kid was fighting. Those critics though were silent after Goku won his match with ease.

Goku grinned to Kuririn with the victory sign on his hands. Kuririn looked away, not impressed by Goku's performance. "I could have done that faster."

"What?" said Goku as the two butted heads with tension rising. The tension was broken when Kuririn was spotted by some of his 'buddies' from the Orin temple, which was where Kuririn was from.

"Well, well, if it is Kuririn, the bald cry baby!" said one of the Orin priests. Kuririn flinched and turned his head. Goku wondered what was up when he saw that Kuririn shiver in fear.

"Hey guys," said Kuririn in a low voice.

"So what are you doing here, cry baby?" asked the other one. "You couldn't possibly be trying out for the Tenkaichi Budokai?" Kuririn nodded which got a laugh from the priests. "What a joke! I guess I didn't get it through your skull that you have got no potential…freak." Kuririn then looked away and not looking into their eyes, ashamed.

The no response pissed off one of the priests, "How about we kick your ass right now?" As he readied to throw a punch at Kuririn, he was stopped by someone.

It was Goku! He blocked the punch with his hand and looked at his attacker with a serious face. "If you want to fight, do it inside the ring. Otherwise, you would have to deal with me."

The priest smirked and said, "You have no idea with who you are dealing with, little boy." He backed off as he and his friends headed towards a different direction. He looked back to Goku and said, "You should get away from **him** if you know what's good for you."

Goku was about to launch himself to attack but was stopped by Kuririn's hand. "Don't worry about it Goku," said Kuririn with a smile. "As you said, if you want to fight, do it inside the ring." Goku looked at Kuririn with a dumbfounded face but had picked up that Kuririn's smile was a fake and especially that Kuririn had called him Goku. Usually its Monkey boy but not this time. He knew somehow that deep down, Kuririn was hurting. But why?

"Hey Kuririn," said Goku with a grin, "if one of us fights them, let's make sure to beat them to ground."

"I don't know about that," said Kuririn nervously.

"Sure you do. After all, you didn't get through Roshi-sensei's training for nothing, right?"

"But…"

"Come on. If you don't fight them seriously, I will be one to beat you," grinned Goku.

"Yeah right, Monkey boy! I will be the one to beat them and win the tournament," said Kuririn with an excited smile. Goku smiled back and nodded, knowing that Kuririn was out of his funk now. _Thank you Goku_.

The preliminaries went out without a stich. Goku and Kuririn kept winning their matches as well as Sasuke. After Goku and Kuririn finished their third round fights, they prepared for the bout that would qualify them for the championship rounds.

Goku faced off against a master of the Lion-Fang fu and defeated him easily. "Winner is number 70!" said the referee. "He will enter the Tenkaichi Budokai finals!" Goku raised his hands in excitement and cheering.

Kuririn on the other hand, fought against a large opponent. This opponent moved fast but not fast enough for Kuririn as he knocked him out of bounds. "Victory to number 93! He qualifies for the Tenkaichi Budokai!" yelled the referee.

"Alright!" yelled Kuririn in excitement and when he saw Goku, he launched for a hug with Goku. Both of them danced and cheered for a bit, until they realized what they were doing and separated from each other instantly.

"Umm," said Goku, "why don't we check on Sasuke?" Kuririn nodded in agreement as the two young warriors went to the block four. On the way there, a body was sent flying in front of them, stopping their path.

"Winner to number 51! He qualifies for the finals!" yelled the referee. Both Goku and Kuririn look up to see who was number 51. And who he was amazed them. This man wore a dark purplish blue gi with a light pale blue obi and a brown boots. He also wore a white turban and a cape along with it. But the most amazing thing though was his skin color…he was green!

Goku and Kuririn had amazed looks on their face, more so on Goku. The green man turned his heads towards the direction of Goku and Kuririn, making them flinch. The green man smirked evilly as he turned around, waving his cape. Goku and Kuririn stood in awe for a few seconds until they went back to their original mission. By the time they got to block four, Sasuke was leaning against the ring.

"Hey Sasuke, did you win?" asked Kuririn, knowing that Goku wouldn't want to ask his rival.

Sasuke gave a grunt sound and looked at them with a smirk, "What do you think?"

"That you lost," replied Goku, hoping to piss off Sasuke.

"That's what happened to you, right?" said Sasuke.

"No. Kuririn and I are going to the finals," said Goku excitedly.

"Well me too then," said Sasuke in an arrogant voice. _These people weren't even a challenge for me,_ thought Sasuke. _Let's hope there are more worthy opponents_.

At the other end of the building, the green man was looking onto the crowd. He gave an evil grinned as he spoke, "I finally found you." He then gave an evil chuckle as he walked away.

* * *

Author's note: **Well here is another chapter. Thank you for all those who review and do keep reviewing especially with this new arc. If you are curious to why Kuririn is not Krillin, I went the original manga name since I did that with Roshi. Also, you may have noticed Kuririn has a different attitude towards Goku than that of DB. That is on purpose. Remember, Goku is a mixture of both his and Naruto's personality. As the story goes along though, Goku will retain most of his personality and less Naruto. It's going to be an exciting few chapters for this arc which is mostly original. Let me know what you think. BTW, if I don't write before the 25th, I want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Peace**


	12. The Final 8

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickolodean.

Author's note: **Just to give a heads up, you may notice a character from Avatar: the Last Airbender in this chapter. I am just using his name, not the character. So don't complain if my portrayal is different from the show. Anyways, here is another chapter of Goku's New Adventure.**

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure: Goku and squad seven have returned back to Konohagakure where they await their next big mission. The mission is another protection mission but this time, the squad must protect Muten Roshi, the Turtle Hermit. Roshi wants to go to watch the Tenkaichi Budokai and needs some protection. The squad is introduced to Kuririn, Roshi's current disciple. Kuririn and Goku don't get along from the start as the tension builds up between them. Roshi explains to the squad about the Tenkaichi Budokai and how Goku, Kuririn and Sasuke are going to participate. Once the group had arrived at the Budokai arena, Goku and Kuririn were given new clothes. Clothes that marked the Turtle sign, signifying that they are students of the Kame school of martial arts. Goku, Kuririn and Sasuke go into the main building to participate in the preliminaries where all of them pass with flying colors. However, Goku and Kuririn encounter with a few mishaps along the way as they run into Kuririn's old "buddies" from the Orin Temple where they make fun of him and call him a freak. They also run into a green man with a turban and a cape, who gives off an ominous aura. Who is this green man and what did the priests mean by Kuririn being a freak? Whom will our heroes fight in the final 8? Find out on Goku's New Adventure..._

* * *

Chapter 12: "The Final 8"

"Woo-hoo!" yelled Goku in excitement as he, Kuririn and Sasuke exit out the main building of the Budokai arena. All three of them had passed the preliminaries and into the final rounds of the Tenkaichi Budokai.

Goku wasn't the only one excited as well. "We did it!" yelled Kuririn excitedly. Sasuke sweat dropped at these antics. _What losers!_

"Hey, let's see if we can find Roshi-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura. I can't wait to tell them about our progress," said Goku as he searched for the group within the large crowd.

"You mean, my progress Monkey boy," said Kuririn with a grin. This made Goku turn around with a glare towards Kuririn. Sparks were flying between with the tension rising.

"There they are!" yelled a voice forcing Goku and Kuririn to stop their staring and turned their heads toward the direction of the voice. It was Sakura, with Kakashi behind her. "It's Sasuke! And Goku and Kuririn!" said Sakura as she came up to Goku, Kuririn and Sasuke while waving her hand.

"Hey Sakura!" said Goku with his Son grin as he waved his hand back. He looked around and asked, "I don't see Roshi-sensei. Where is he?"

Goku then looked up at Sakura and the mere mention of Sakura produced a tick on her forehead. "Over there," she said as she pointed to a hole on the ground near where they were standing. Goku looks at the spot and can see a hurt Muten Roshi on the floor.

"What happened to him?" asked Kuririn.

Sakura was too angry to answer. "Well, Roshi went around and," said Kakashi with a slight hint of a blush of embarrassment, "touched some women inappropriately. Sakura saw all this and took action. What you see there is Sakura's beating."

Kuririn flinched. He didn't know that Sakura was so strong and made a mental note not to piss her off anytime soon. Goku didn't move at all. He knew too well Sakura's wrath as he nervously sweated, trying to make sure he didn't piss her off now.

"That was quite impressive Sakura," said Roshi as he had gotten up from the ground with a huge bump on his head from Sakura's beating. He then looked at Goku, Kuririn, and Sasuke and asked, "So how was it? Did you qualify?"

"Yup!" said Goku with his Son grin. "I was the first to qualify!"

"No you weren't loser," said Sasuke.

"What? I so did! Right Kuririn?"

Kuririn stayed silent and looked up to the group with a grin. He said in an arrogant voice, "Actually I was first Monkey boy. There was no way that you qualified first. It must have been luck."

"What did you say?" responded Goku in anger. He was ready for a fight. Sparks flew in between their eyes as Goku and Kuririn glared at each other.

Kakashi and Roshi both sighed. Then the group heard a ring on the speaker's, catching their attention.

"Attention!" said the voice through the PA speakers. "The Tenkaichi Budokai will begin momentarily! Will the eight finalists please assemble in the main martial arts hall!"

"That's us," said Kuririn as he started to walk towards the main hall. "C'mon Monkey boy!"

"Alright, let's go Sasuke," said Goku.

Sasuke let out a grunt sound as he got up from leaning against the wall and walked with Goku and Kuririn towards the hall. "Good luck, you guys!" yelled Sakura with waving her hands. Goku and Kuririn looked back and waved their hands back at Sakura. "Go get them Sasuke!" yelled Sakura, hoping to get a reaction from Sasuke. It never came.

After they were in the distance, Kakashi, Roshi and Sakura, walked towards the main arena to wait on the fight. While walking there, Roshi said to Kakashi, "Kakashi, did you feel that strong aura?"

"Yes. There is something evil here, but I am not quite sure where it is," replied Kakashi. "Should we search the area?"

"No," Roshi said in a quick response, "we do not want to attract attention to ourselves. Let us be patient and have them reveal themselves."

Kakashi nodded and said, "I agree."

At the main hall, Goku, Kuririn and Sasuke were waiting for the next step. They weren't the only ones though. There were five other people, including the green man in which Goku kept an eye out for. Ever since he had met the green man, Goku felt something weird and evil about him. He contemplated on approaching the green man until he was interrupted by the voice of the announcer.

"Now hear this," said the announcer. The announcer had blonde hair, wearing a cool-looking pair of sunglasses and a black suit with a black tie. "All finalists please assemble!"

He then points to a board on the wall with numbers and said, "We will now draw lots to determine match-ups and fight schedules – when your name is called, please come forward and draw a slip. Has everyone understood that?" Everyone nodded, including Goku.

"Okay then," said the announcer as he looked at a list with names. "I'll start calling your names…Namu-san."

"Here," spoke a tall, dark-tanned man wearing a turban on his head as well as some plain clothing. He went up to drawing box and pulled out a number. "Number 2."

"That would be match 1," said the announcer as he placed Namu's name on the board. After he finished writing, he said, "Madarame Ikkaku."

"Yo!" spoke a tall, bald man, wearing a grey kimono.

"Number 8, match 4," said the announcer as he wrote down Ikkaku's name. "Gyatso."

"Yeah," said the average height man who was also bald. He wore the clothing of the Orin Temple priests. Goku had noticed that the monk kept glaring at Kuririn. He wondered why?

"Number 4, match 2. Uchiha Sasuke," said the announcer.

"Here," spoke Sasuke in a cool voice as he picked from the draw box.

"Number 6, match 3. Ma Junior."

"Yeah," said the green man. Goku stared at Ma Junior as he went to pick up his number from the draw box.

"Number 3, match 2. Matsuka Daisuke."

"Yeah," spoke an average height man, who seemed mostly preoccupied on picking up women. His black hair was gelled up, wore a tank-top shirt to show off his muscles and had tanned skin.

"Number 5, match 3," said the announcer. Then he read from the clip but seemed to have a little trouble reading out loud something as he spoke, "Now…um…Song Oku."

The room was silent. Goku was looking left and right to see if his name was the one called. No one came up so the announcer asked, "Are you here, Song Oku?"

Still silent. "That's funny. We've got the right number of people here," said the announcer.

"Could that be 'Son Goku'?" asked Kuririn as he looked at the name sheet.

The announcer realizes his mistakes and then said, "Is there a Son Goku present?"

"Here!" yelled Goku in excitement as he went up to the draw box to pick a number.

"Number 7, match 4."

"Alright!" yelled Goku as he saw that if he won his match, he might get to fight Sasuke. He couldn't wait for it.

"And so, that is the schedule," said the announcer after he finished writing Daisuke's name. "Each match will be one round with no time limit! If you fall off the stage or cry 'mercy,' you lose! And also the eyes or the vulnerables is a violation."

"What are 'vulnerables'?" asked Goku with a dumbfounded face.

The announcer sweat dropped as he spoke, "In terms you will understand – your 'jewels.'"

"Um," said Daisuke with a dumbfounded face as well. "I thought we couldn't have jewelry!"

The announcer fell backwards in anime style as these questions were really ridiculous. Sasuke was blushing with embarrassment. _How did I get matched up with such a loser!_ Sasuke said to himself.

_What have I done to deserve this?_ The announcer said to himself as he regained his composure and spoke, "In any case, the matches will begin momentarily, so, please wait here until further notice."

The announcer started to walk away, towards the main arena when he was pulled by Goku. "Hey! What about lunch?" asked Goku.

The announcer looked at the boy with a bit of a surprised look on his face. "You want to eat right before the match?" Goku nodded. "Wouldn't you rather wait until aft…"

"I wanna eat!"

"Well then…" said the announcer as he looked in the direction of one of the priest helpers. "Please prepare him a lunch."

The priest nodded and said to Goku, "Please, sir, step this way."

Goku was about to walk towards him until he stopped himself and went to where Kuririn and Sasuke where. He asked them, "Hey guys, what about you?"

Kuririn looked at Goku weirdly and said, "You've got to be kidding. I'm too nervous to be hungry." Sasuke didn't say anything but Goku guessed that he would respond the same way as Kuririn did.

"Okay," said Goku, "more for me then!" He walked to the lunch area with his usual Son grin. He was given plates of food and after a few minutes, Goku called in for more. The staff sweat dropped at the sight of Goku eating so much. They have never seen a boy or anyone eat so much before a match.

Meanwhile, the announcer had stepped outside into the arena to talk to the crowd with his microphone. He was in front of a sign in which behind it, stood the contestants in the lobby, waiting for their turn to compete. "Ladies and gentlemen," said the announcer, "thank you for your patience! We will now commence the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai!"

The crowd went wild with cheers. This tournament was very popular in this land as well as to its neighboring lands.

"Match number 1 is about to begin, pitting contestants Kuririn and Namu!" said the announcer. "Remember, the champion of this tournament will be awarded 500,000 ryo in prize money! Now, let the games begin!" Cheers were heard all over the arena.

"Both contestants, please step forward!"

Namu, who had his eyes closed, walked up to the sign that separate the lobby to the arena. As he approached it, his eyes opened and made a serious face. Kuririn, who saw all this, gulped and started to have some doubts. That is until Goku saw his reaction.

"What? You're gonna chicken out?" said Goku in a nonchalant way.

Kuririn flinched and looked at Goku with a grin, "Nope. Just getting ready Monkey boy."

Goku smiled and said, "Good luck then." Kuririn nodded. He didn't know how but Goku always knew how to get someone out of their funk.

Kuririn stepped into the arena, as the announcer spoke, "In the right corner, Kuririn is the youngest contestant to ever enter this tournament, at the tender age of 13! In the left, is Namu, a warrior from a desert village in the Land of Wind!"

"Go Kuririn! I want to fight you in the finals!" yelled Goku as he rested on one of the walls of the arena.

Kuririn nodded and smirked as he looked at his opponent. "You hear that? That Monkey boy is annoying but I want to fight him as well so why don't we finish this match ASAP."

Namu was silent in his response. His hands were in a hand sign position, two fingers pointing up. His eyes were closed and had a relaxed breathing. Kuririn looked at Namu with surprise. "What, cat got your tongue?"

Still silent.

"Alright! Tension is building up between these two! Remember, combatants, if you fall of this stage, you lose! If you are knocked down for a 10-count, you lose! If you yell 'mercy!,' you lose! But there's no match time limit! Now, let the match begin!" yelled the announcer from the ground of the arena.

KLANG!

As soon as the bell was rung, Kuririn went into attack mode, sprinting from the corner. He launched his fist towards Namu's head, thinking that with the force behind the punch, Namu would be knocked out of the arena. How wrong he was.

As soon as the punch went for Namu, he disappeared, leaving behind an afterimage. Kuririn went through the image and because of his momentum almost fell out of the arena. He stopped himself at the edge, sighing at the close call as he turned around to see Namu behind, still with his eyes closed.

"Incredible!" yelled the announcer as the crowd went wild, watching this exciting match. "What incredible speed! Namu was able to leave an afterimage as he moved…with his eyes closed!"

"Wow…" said Sakura, who was with Kakashi and Roshi, watched at the front of the spectator box. "What speed and he did with his eyes closed!"

Kuririn got into his fighter stance, ready to attack again. "Heh…just got lucky," he muttered. He sprinted again, this time with the intent of hitting Namu's legs. He doved his legs for a kick.

Namu, still with his eyes closed, jumped at the instant that Kuririn's legs touch him a bit. He went over Kuririn and yelled, "Shura Gekiretsuken!" He karate chopped Kuririn's neck, causing him to go down with a thud.

The crowd yelled in disappointment as some of them thought that the fight was over, including Namu and the announcer.

"Namu went for the KO!" yelled the announcer as he started to count.

Namu opened his eyes as he spoke, "He should be out for at least for a few days." He started to walk towards the lobby when he heard Goku's voice.

"C'mon Kuririn! Don't tell me that's all you got!" yelled Goku. "What happened to our promise? Didn't you say you want to beat me?"

"It is useless boy, he can't hear you," said Namu in a calm voice. But as soon as he said it, he turned to where Kuririn was and saw that he was getting up. _Impossible!_ he thought.

"Jebus Goku, you are so annoying!" said Kuririn, panting his breath as he got up.

The crowd went wild as so did Goku.

"Impossible," said Namu, nervously sweating as he stared at Kuririn. "You should have been unconscious."

"Credit that to my sensei," grinned Kuririn as he got into his fighter stance. "I got a bit carried away. This time, I am going serious. I can't lose here."

"Neither can I," said Namu as he got into a stance as well.

Each of them stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Kuririn launched himself towards Namu. Namu was ready for this as he used his afterimage technique. Kuririn went through and landed softly. He turned his head left and right, looking for his opponent.

"Kurirn, behind you!" yelled Goku.

Kuririn turned and sure enough, Namu was behind, ready to do another Shura Gekiretsuken. Luckly, Kuririn was able to dodge it, but at a price of being hit, not bad though.

Kuririn jumped backwards as he tried to get some distance between Namu and him. "Dammit! Why can't I see him?" muttered Kuririn.

"What are you talking about?" asked the voice of Goku. Kuririn looked up and saw Goku above him on top of the wall of the arena.

"Could you see him?" asked Kuririn in a sarcastic voice.

"Yeah, couldn't you?" replied Goku. Kuririn with a skeptical face looked at Goku thinking that Goku was pulling his leg. "I mean, you had the same training as me right?"

Kuririn flinched as he realized that he did have the same training as Goku. Especially since Roshi did talk a lot about a boy who completed his training in a year. Kuririn got into a fighting stance, ready to attack. _I hate to admit it, but Goku saved me there_, he thought to himself. _But can I really see it? Well, here goes nothing!_

"Hyahh!" yelled Kuririn as he launched towards Namu. Again, Namu used the afterimage technique as soon as Kuririn was near. However, this time, Kuririn was ready. As soon as he went through the image, he looked around and found his opponent to his left, getting ready to strike from behind.

Kuririn turned around and blocked the chop with his hand and went for a kick. Namu jumped and put some distance between him and Kuririn. _So he can see me_, Namu said to himself. Then he launched himself towards Kuririn, putting him on the defensive with a variety of kicks.

Kuririn block each one with his left forearm. He had his right hand ready for the counterattack. However, he didn't want to misuse it since he was shorter than Namu and could leave him wide open. But this kind of thinking didn't stop him. He took his chance for the counterattack as he punched Namu, up and down on his body.

Namu didn't expect it, considering the height difference. "TEH!" yelled Namu was kicked Kuririn in the face, knocking him backwards a bit. Kuririn stepped back a bit as he launched himself on the offensive. Fists and kicks went flying between the two at fast speeds. Kuririn then went for a legs as he did a leg swipe, putting Namu in the air for a moment.

"GAHH!" yelled Kuririn as he punched with his right fist to Namu's chest, launching him towards the tall arena wall. Namu turned in mid-air, enabling him to land softly against the wall as he uses it as a springboard.

"TEHHH!" yelled Namu as he went for the neck with his chop. At the last second, Kuririn dodges it and puts some distance between him and Namu.

Both collect their breaths as the crowd goes wild. "That was awesome!" yelled the announcer, accurately portraying the feeling of the crowd. "What a heated duel! Neither one is backing down!"

_Incredible_, thought Namu. _He can actually keep up with me. He is very strong and I have already used up enough energy after doing those afterimages. I must end this fight now!_

"I commend you boy on your strength," smiled Namu. "However, I cannot lose here. It is time to end this!"

Kuririn smirked. "Couldn't agree more!"

Namu smiled faded as he started to build up some ki in his legs. "HAAAA!" he yelled as he launched himself to the sky. Kuririn looked up, wondering what Namu was going to do.

Namu kept going up until he felt he had got enough air between him and Kuririn. He plunges downward, holding his arms in a cross position, yelling "Heavens Cross!"

Kuririn stood there wondering what kind of attack it was. He continued to stare until he heard a voice.

"Kuririn, get out of the way!"

Kuririn wasn't sure whose voice it was but at the last minute he dodged the attack. Or so he thought as Namu hit him, knocking him into the ground. Namu stood up, hovering over Kuririn's position. Everyone in the crowd was astonished at what just happened.

"Please begin the count," said Namu as he put his arms and hands in a praying position. The announcer started the count. "I am a devout Buddhist," muttered Namu, "so I will not kill another man, but after taking that attack, he will not wake up for two weeks."

"Eight…Nine…Te…"

Kuririn's hand twitched, causing the count to stop momentarily. That second was all that Kuririn needed to get back up. Kuririn gasped a bit for air as he spoke, "That really hurt."

The crowd went into a frenzy. More awesome fighting! Namu stood shell-shocked. "That's impossible…"

"Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!" yelled the announcer. "Absolutely amazing! What frighteningly strong body Kuririn has! Now Namu's the one in a daze, despite having succeeded in his attack!"

"That was close," muttered Kuririn. "If I didn't heed that warning, I would have been out for sure."

Namu clenched his fist as he spoke, "You got lucky. But this time, you won't be able to get up for sure!"

Kuririn smiled as Namu jumped in the air again. Kuririn looked towards Namu's position. "Alright, let's see if this works." He cupped his hands together and put to the side.

Goku watched as he recognized that position as well did Sakura, Roshi, Kakashi and Sasuke.

Namu, as before, stopped in midair but higher than last time. He plunged himself towards Kuririn, yelling, "Super Heaven's Cross!"

"KA…ME…HA…ME…" chanted Kuririn as a blue orb began to form in his cupped hands. Namu was gaining speed in his downfall, but as soon as he got closer to the arena did he notice the blue orb. Namu tried to stop himself in order to avoid the attack but it was too late. Kuririn launched his cupped hands forward, yelling, "HAAA!"

A blue beam came out of his hands, heading in the direction of Namu. Namu, at the last moment, dodged it but at a cost. He lost momentum and direction as he landed outside the ring.

The crowd goes into a cheer as the announcer yells, "He won! What a comeback for Kuririn! Namu has taken a saddening ring out loss! But it was truly a wonderful fight!"

"Incredible…" said Sakura as she was at a loss of words. She thought that Goku was the only one to pull off that technique. And so did Roshi.

"Indeed," he said.

"You did it Kuririn!" yelled Goku as he went to hug Kuririn, smiling. Kuririn, caught by surprise, took the hug with a smirk.

"Of course, otherwise, I wouldn't want you to complain that I lost unfairly," said Kuririn. Goku grinned as he and Kuririn went back to the lobby.

"Now then, everyone! Following that, we will now begin the second match!" yelled the announcer as the green man and Orin priest stepped out into the ring.

As the two fighters got into their respective corners, the priest looked at the green man with curiousity. _Where have seen this man before?_ Gyatso asked himself. _No matter, once I beat him, I will be able to beat the crap out of that __**freak**__!_ Gyatso got into his fighting stance while the green man, crossed his arms.

"Give up, you can't win priest," said Ma Junior with a deep and rash voice.

Gyatso flinched. Now he was even more curious to whom this 'Ma Junior' was since he had heard that voice before.

"Now let the match begin!"

KLANG!

"Wind Style: Gale Palm Jutsu!" yelled the Orin priest as he did a series of handsigns and launched his palms towards Ma Junior. A wind storm was conjured up in the arena causing everyone to cover their eyes. Kakashi and Roshi were the only one to not cover their eyes.

Ma Junior stood there, his arms still crossed, not even flinching. The priest clenched his teeth as he did another series of hand signs and yelled, "Wind Style: Wind Blade Jutsu!" He launched his summon his wind blades towards Ma Junior, causing an explosion in the arena.

Everyone covered their eyes from the dust. As soon as the dust cleared, Ma Junior disappeared from the arena. Gyatso panted a bit his breath as he collected himself.

The crowd cheered on at the sight of incredible jutsu. Goku, who was watching with Kuririn this battle on top of the wall like before, asked, "Hey I didn't know you guys could do jutsu?"

"I don't know any jutsu. But when I was with the Orin temple, I learned that only the high priests knew jutsu," replied Kuririn. As soon as he said it though, his head was pounding. But why?

Gyatso stood at his corner, collecting his breath, hoping it was over.

"Is that all?"

Gyatso flinched and turned around to see Ma Junior behind him, unharmed and without a scratch. The green man still had his arms crossed.

Crowd cheered on when they saw Ma Junior still standing.

"Incredible!" yelled the announcer. "What incredible jutsu attack and Ma Junior has come out unharmed and without a scratch! What kind of technique did he use to escape?"

"C'mon, the other priests were more of a challenge," smirked Ma Junior.

Gyatso flinched at the mention of the other priests. Now this 'Ma Junior' had his full attention. Who was he? "I guess I have to use more power," grinned the Orin priest. Gyatso then jumped backwards as he pushed himself from the ground to attack Ma Junior. He went for the head with a right hook with the green man dodging it. Again, Gyatso went for another attack but it was dodged again.

Gyatso let out a flurry of punches and kicks to Ma Junior, all of them dodged. And without having the green man unfolding his arms. The crowd was silent at this spectacle of a fight.

Gyatso had enough as he put some distance between him and Ma Junior. He did a series of hand signs and yelled, "Wind Style: Divine Wind Jutsu!" A series of mini-tornadoes cropped up around Ma Junior, forming a circle around him. Gyatso then let another series of hand signs and yelled, "Fire Style: Fire Run Jutsu!" He let out a series of jets of fire and sent them into the tornadoes, causing an inferno as the fire tornadoes converged on Ma Junior's position.

KABOOM!

An explosion occurred. As the smoke cleared, Ma Junior was lying on the floor, unconscious. Gyatso was panting heavily as he looked at the green man's body.

"Folks, it seems that Ma Junior is down for the count. Let me begin…one…tw…" said the announcer as he stopped in the middle of the count when he looked into the sky. He started to gasp. Gyatso caught on and when he looked up, he gasped as well and began to nervously sweat.

"Impossible!" he yelled.

Everyone look up to where the announcer and Gyatso are looking at. Everyone gasped including Goku, Sakura, Kuririn, Sasuke, Kakashi and Roshi. Ma Junior was alive and without a scratch but he was flying! The green man on the arena ground disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"How is he doing that?" said Sakura in a surprise voice.

"Bukujutsu," said Kakashi.

"What?"

"Bukujutsu, a technique in which the user manipulates their ki energy so that they can levitate or fly with their feet," replied Roshi. "It is also known as the Air Dance. It is a very advanced technique. I myself haven't mastered it." Sakura saw that Roshi was nervously sweating. But why?

_Incredible, _Roshi said to himself. _To think that there is someone out there that has mastered Bukujutsu. This 'Ma Junior' is stronger than he is letting on._

Gyatso stood in awe. He clenched his fists in frustration. Ma Junior smirked at his opponent frustration as he unfolded his arms and spoke to the frustrated Orin priest, "Very impressive. But you are no match for me."

Gyatso did a series of hand signs and yelled out to Ma Junior, "I won't go down so easily. Wind Style: Divine Down Current Jutsu!" He gathered the wind in his palms as he cupped his hand together and let out it like a Kamehameha wave.

Ma Junior, floating above the arena, smirked as he knew what the priest had planned ahead. He yelled, "Kuchikarakikoha!" He opened his mouth as he let out a powerful beam attack from his mouth. Everyone stood in awe as the two techniques collided, causing a massive explosion in the middle of the arena.

Dust was everywhere as everyone covered their eyes. When the dust cleared, Gyatso was on the ground, injured badly. As soon as the announcer noticed he was on the ground, he prepared the count but was stopped when Gyatso started to get up gingerly. He swayed around like a drunkard as he looked at his opponent who landed in front of him.

Ma Junior smirked as he spoke, "You are still alive. Impressive but I think I will have to end this before you accidently kill someone **precious**."

Gyatso flinched. He suddenly realized who this green man was and what he was talking about. "I will not let you get your hands on **that**…Piccolo," said the priest quietly. He thought that if he said that out loud, the crowd would go into a panic if they knew who this green man was.

The crowd and everyone on the sideline were silent. What were the priest and green man talking about?

Gyatso panted heavily as he gathered his chakra for his last attack. "I am going to finish you off. I don't care if I kill you. As long as you don't your hands on **that**!"

"Very well then," grinned Ma Junior as he gather ki for his attack.

Gyatso did a series of hand signs as he gathered a deep breath and yelled, "Wind Style: Air Bullet Jutsu!" He let out a huge bullet of compressed air towards Ma Junior.

KABOOM!

Another explosion. When the smoke cleared, Gyatso was bent down, panting heavily for air. That last jutsu took out a lot out of him. He looked to where his opponent once stood to see nothing. He smiled thinking that he had killed Ma Junior or at least won the match.

"Wrong," said voice behind him.

Gyatso flinched as he tried to turn around quickly. But before he could, he was knocked out by two chops at the neck by Ma Junior. Gyatso went to the floor with a thud as he passed out.

The announcer, as soon as he regained composure, began the count but it was already decided. Ma Junior was the winner.

"The winner is Ma Junior! What an incredible fight folks!" yelled the announcer as the crowd cheered in excitement of the fight. Ma Junior walked into the waiting room, arms crossed. However, he stopped to see Goku looking at him with a glare.

The two stared at each other for a while as Ma Junior let out a grunt. What could this kid possibly want? Goku continued to stare at Ma Junior until he was interrupted by Kuririn.

"Hey Monkey boy, saw a banana?" asked Kuririn.

"No."

"Then what?"

"Umm…nothing," replied Goku as he didn't want Kuririn to know that Ma Junior was going to kill the priest when Ma Junior was behind him. He shook his head, thinking that wasn't possible as he looked forward to Sasuke's upcoming match.

"Now, everyone, it is time for match #3!" yelled the announcer into the mike. "Uchiha Sasuke and Matsuka Daisuke, please come to the stage!"

Sasuke began to walk towards to the arena when Goku stopped by yelling, "Hey Sasuke, don't lose! I want get to fight you!"

Sasuke let out a grunt as he said, "Dream on loser." Goku grinned.

Once Sasuke got out into the arena, a lot of girls started fawn over him. Cheers were heard across the crowd from young girls including Sakura.

"Go Sasuke!"

Sasuke, sweat dropped a little bit as he tried to ignore these fan girls. He looked at his opponent, who for no reason, was flexing his arms to the crowd.

"What are you doing?" asked Sasuke.

"I am trying to go fishing," replied Daisuke.

"What?" Sasuke had to ask.

"Picking up women cause I look dapper," said Daisuke as he fist-pumped the air. "You gotta stay fresh to death, I call it: fresh outfit, fresh haircut, fresh tan, just stay fresh. You should try it since women are all over you."

Sasuke's eye begin to twitch. "No…thank you." _What a loser!_

"Now let the third match, begin!" yelled the announcer.

KLANG!

Daisuke got into a sprint as he went to punch Sasuke. Sasuke was able to dodge it, but barely. _This guy is fast_, he said to himself as he continued to dodge the punches. That is until after a few punches, Sasuke had to put up his guard to block.

Daisuke smirked as he pulled a fist back and went with a kick to the legs catching Sasuke by surprise. Sasuke is knocked over and punched in the face, sending him to the wall. All of Sasuke's fan girls gasped at the sight of their crush being hurt.

Goku yelled on, "C'mon Sasuke. You are better than this guy." Kuririn nodded in agreement as both of them watched from the wall.

"Shut up you loser," muttered Sasuke as he pushed away the rocks in his way. Once he got up, he saw Daisuke fist-pumping. Sasuke sweat dropped at the sight.

"So you are back for some more punishment?" said Daisuke as he cracked his knuckles.

Sasuke smirked as he spoke, "No, you are!" Sasuke launched forward as he went his fist first. Daisuke was barely able to block it. Sasuke then went with a kick that he was able to land on Daisuke's shoulder. Daisuke is sent skidding along the ground but gets back up quickly. He launches himself to Sasuke and a flurry of punches and kicks come between them.

This goes on for a few seconds, until the two hit their fists together causing a shockwave that is felt all over the arena. The two put distance between themselves to collect their breaths. The crowd goes wild. The girls go gaga over their crushes, including Sakura.

"Incredible!" yelled the announcer. "What series of punches and kicks! Both warriors are on equal terms!"

Daisuke got out of his fighting stance and started to crack his neck. He said to Sasuke, "Man, I'm getting heated at this point! Time to bring out the guns!" Daisuke then did a series of hand signs and yelled, "Ninja Art: Fresh to Death Jutsu!" A wind picked up, causing Sasuke and the crowd to cover their eyes on reflex.

As soon as the dust cleared, Sasuke took down his arm to reveal Daisuke…all healed up. But how?

"What?" said a surprised Sasuke. But before he could react, he was punched in the gut by Daisuke, causing to bend over in pain.

Daisuke grinned as he went for the head but Sasuke was able to dodge at the last minute. Sasuke pushed off of Daisuke and went for the midsection with a roundhouse kick. But it was blocked! Daisuke held Sasuke's leg in a grip as he lifted Sasuke off the ground and into the air with a throw.

As Sasuke was in the air, Daisuke jumped and crossed his arms into an X position, hitting Sasuke in the abdominal area of his body. Sasuke spewed out some bile from his mouth as he landed on the arena ground with a thud. Daisuke stood away a few feet from his opponent as he started to fist pump the air in celebration.

The announcer began the count. Sakura, surprised that Sasuke was being beaten by a…a…she couldn't even describe him.

Goku, meanwhile, screamed, "C'mon Sasuke! Get up! You can't let this idiot beat you!"

"Look who's talking," said Kuririn. Goku glared at Kuririn that is until he was interrupted when the count stopped and crowd was in awe.

Sasuke got back up, panting for breath. Cheers were heard from the fan girls in the crowd.

Daisuke smirked, "Want more punishment?"

Sasuke grinned as he wiped away the bile from his chin, "Bring it!"

"Alright, you asked for it!" yelled Daisuke as he did another series of hand signs and yelled, "Ninja Art: Juiced Up Jutsu!" Daisuke's muscles began to bulge and grew bigger than before. An aura started to surround Daisuke, getting looks from Sakura, Goku and Kuririn. What was this jutsu?

Sasuke, meanwhile, tried to figure out what jutsu was this. But before he had time to think, Daisuke go in front of him and went for the head with his right fist. Sasuke blocked it. However, he was thrown backwards by the blow of the punch. He did some backflips as he regained composure and had put some distance between the two.

Daisuke stood up and turned his head toward Sasuke. "Have you noticed how much power that punch had? Ten times than normal!" He punched the wall, causing a good portion of it to be destroyed. The crowd was in awe of this man's strength.

Even Sakura. She started to think that Sasuke might not be able to beat this guy. She looks at Kakashi, ready to ask him but…

"Don't worry Sakura. Sasuke knows what he is doing," said Kakashi with a smile. That smile washed away most of Sakura's worry but it still was a fact that Sasuke was losing.

"Amazing! I don't what Daisuke did, but now he has more power than before! How will Sasuke get out of this now?" yelled the announcer.

Sasuke took a deep breath and stared at his opponent. Kuririn turns to Goku and said, "Man, I didn't think that Sasuke would be so weak."

"He is not weak," Goku responded. "He just isn't using his full power."

"What? Really?" said a surprised Kuririn. What is Goku seeing that Kuririn can't see?

Sasuke took another deep breath as collected himself. He grinned, causing Daisuke with curiosity. "Why are you smiling?"

"I think it's time to get serious," muttered Sasuke as he lifted his head, revealing something in his eyes. Something red on the pupils…It was the Sharingan!

Daisuke took a step back when he saw the eyes. Something about those eyes made himself feel naked. Sasuke smirked as he spoke, "Now I see. Now I see the 'secret' behind your jutsu as well as your weakness."

Daisuke flinched and tried to bluff his way, "What are you talking about? I am way stronger than you! I'll prove it!" He launched in a sprint towards Sasuke. He goes for the head with a powerful right fist. He hits something, but not the target. Daisuke was shocked! How did he dodge it?

"That Beef Up Jutsu is an incredible jutsu," said Sasuke, who stood behind Daisuke. Daisuke pulls out his fist and goes again for the head but misses completely. Daisuke yells out in frustration as Sasuke continues to dodge. "It is true that your strength has multiplied but what about your speed?"

Daisuke stopped his attack as he heard Sasuke's explanation. "That bulging gives you great power but how can you use it when you can't even hit your opponent," said Sasuke as he did a series of hand signs.

"That won't stop me from beating you!" screamed Daisuke in frustration.

"True," said Sasuke as he finished, "but that's why I am going to reveal your 'secret!' Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A large flame ball was formed and sent towards Daisuke, hitting him straight on. Another explosion occurs but this time, it was smaller.

As the smoke cleared, Daisuke was panting heavily and burnt all over his arms. He clenches his hands as he does a series of hand signs and yells, "Ninja Art: Fresh to Death Jutsu!" A gust picks up, enveloping Daisuke again.

As the dust subsides, Daisuke is revealed to be completely healed again. Or so did everyone thought. Sasuke, his sharingan eyes still on, goes behind Daisuke and karate chops in the back. Daisuke goes to the floor with a thud.

The announcer starts the count as Daisuke looks up at Sasuke and asked, "How did you know?"

"Nothing can escape from these eyes," explained the Uchiha prodigy. "You masked yourself in a gust of wind and while everyone is covering their eyes, you simply eat a food pill to recover your strength. For the wounds, you apply some kind of tanning lotion to cover them up. The first time you did it you had caught me by surprise but now, I can see everything clearly."

The count was down to seven when Daisuke asked again, "Why didn't you use those eyes from the beginning?"

"Because I wanted to test myself," replied Sasuke. "I wanted to see how much I have to go if I need to use my eyes like that."

Daisuke smiled as he passed out.

"Winner is Uchiha Sasuke! What an incredible match folks!" yelled the announcer. The staff went with a stretcher to pick up Daisuke as Sasuke walks back to the waiting room.

As soon as he enters, Kuririn greets him. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to lose Sasuke."

"In your dreams loser," responded Sasuke. He looks around and asks Kuririn, "Where is Goku?"

"You know, I don't really know. We were watching your match and then Goku said something and never came back," said Kuririn scratching his head.

"Now, let us begin match #4!" yelled the announcer. "Son Goku vs. Madarame Ikkaku! Both contestants, please come to the stage!"

Madarame Ikkaku comes out from the sign, doing a weird dance as goes to the center of the stage.

"Tsui...tsui…tsui…tsui…tsui…Ta-da!" danced Ikkaku.

Silent was the crowd as they sweat dropped. But they started to get anxious as Goku was becoming a no-show. The announcer looks back to the waiting area and asks, "Son Goku?"

"Dammit!" yelled Ikkaku. "I did my Tsui dance to give him time to come out!" said Ikkaku in frustration.

"Son Goku, please come out?" said the announcer. Everyone behind the sign began to search for him effortlessly. Until he was found by Namu.

"He's over here!" he yelled.

When everyone arrived, they saw Goku was…asleep and snoring. Everyone fell backwards in anime style. Kuririn slapped Goku's face around to wake him up. "What are you doing sleeping at a time like this? It's your turn remember!"

"Eh…?What?" said Goku half asleep.

As soon as the announcer sees him, he pulls Goku to the stage. "Hurry, hurry!" Once outside, the announcer explains for the delay, "Excuse us! Son Goku was taking a little nap…"

"Good Afternoon! I'm Son Goku!" said Goku in his Son grin as everyone in the crowd fell backwards in anime style.

Sakura blushed with embarrassment as she clenched her fist in anger. _Goku, I am so going to kill you!_

"Alright, let the match begin!" yelled the announcer.

KLANG!

Goku started to do some stretching exercises as so did his opponent. Once both of them were limper enough, Goku and Ikkaku got into fighting positions. Ikkaku was the first to move as he went for the head with a right hook. Goku blocked it with his left forearm. He counterattacked with his right fist and that was blocked by Ikkaku. These flurries of blocks and punches occurred in a span of a few minutes.

The crowd was in awe at the speed of the punches. But unlike with the other fights, these punches were producing small shockwaves as the stage began to crumble a bit. Both fighters jump backwards and launched at each other with Ikkaku's shin slamming into Goku's as both tried to hit the other with a high kick that would've connected to the other's head if they both hadn't tried the same move at the same time.

Both warriors grunted as they jumped backwards, putting some distance between the two. Ikkaku grinned as he spoke, "Incredible fighting skill. I must say that you are no rookie when it comes to taijutsu."

"Neither do you," smiled Goku. "Your taijutsu skills are good, but it's different than anything that I have seen. What is it called?"

"Hakuda," replied the bald man. "What about yours?"

"Kame style." The crowd stood silent. Goku looked around surprised and curious to why the crowd was silent.

Ikkaku, who was nervously sweating, asked, "You're telling me that you trained under Muten Roshi?" Goku nodded. "I see…then it would be rude of me to not go full strength!"

Suddenly the air felt thick as Ikkaku put his hand together in a hand sign. "HYAAAHHHH!" He yelled as the stage began to shake with pebbles rising a bit. The crowd stood in awe as he shouted out, "Ninja Art: Wind Sword Hozukimaru!"

The air around the stage began to collect itself in Ikkaku's hand, forming a long spear of wind. Goku stood in awe at the sight of a sword formed by wind. Goku then looked at the announcer and asked him, "Hey, aren't weapons not allowed?"

"That is true," spoke the announcer, "but this sword was created by the wind, so it is the exception to the rule."

"C'mon Son Goku!" said Ikkaku with a smile. "Don't tell me you are going to cower behind the rules for this fight!"

Goku grinned. "Of course not. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't complain once I beat you."

Ikkaku smiled and went on the offensive with a wind sword strike. Goku was able to dodge and noticed how the stage was sliced up by the wind sword. Ikkaku continued to slice with his wind sword with a sadistic smile on his face. He seemed to rather enjoy this…a lot.

Goku kept dodging and dodging, with not enough time for a counterattack. Sakura looked at the battle and wondered why Goku hasn't striked yet. She turns to Kakashi and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, why isn't Goku attacking? Does he usually go into a battle headfirst, rather than plan out a strategy?"

Kakashi chuckled and smiled. "That is true Sakura. However…"

"Goku realizes that if he goes in head first, he will be sliced up," interrupted the Turtle Hermit. "That slash on the stage hit him hard and has been embedded into his mind. It was a risk that Ikkaku took and worked in his favor."

"I see," said Sakura as she turned immediately back to the battle as she heard Goku scream.

"AHHH!" screamed Goku in pain as one of the wind slashes got him on the shoulder.

"Goku!" yelled Kuririn and Sakura together. Goku was in deep trouble.

Once he stepped back, putting some distance between him and Ikkaku, Goku held his shoulder as the wind sword gave him a flesh wound. Ikkaku held down his sword as he stared at Goku.

"Give up, boy," he said. Goku was panting. Maybe it was a good idea to give up.

_No!_ Goku yelled to himself. _I won't give up, I can't_. Goku looked up with a grin and said to Ikkaku, "Can't do that. I won't ever give up! Besides it's time that I got serious too."

Ikkaku dropped his smile and had a serious look on his face as he spoke, "You sure talk big Goku. But I don't see where such confidence comes from!" Ikkaku then launches forward with his wind sword attack. Goku continued to dodge the sword attacks like before. And like before, he gets hit with a flesh wound and repeats the same pattern as before.

Sakura looked onto the battle and said out loud for Kakashi and Roshi to hear, "What is Goku doing? Doesn't he know that he can't keep dodging them all the time?"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," responded Roshi.

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Just watch Sakura," said Kakashi in a stern voice. Sakura wasn't sure what she was supposed to see or look for?

As Goku gets hit again, Ikkaku said, "So, is bluffing all you can do? A rookie like you can't possibly keep up." But as soon as Ikkaku said it, Goku disappeared in a puff of smoke. In his place was a piece of the broken wall. Ikkaku gasped. "What?"

"You're wrong," said a voice. Ikkaku turns his head around to see Goku behind, punching him in the face. Ikkaku flews for a bit and lands on the stage, skidding. He looks up to see Goku in a fighting position, smiling. "I am already catching on."

Ikkaku clenched his teeth as he went to strike but this time he hit Goku. Or so he thought when the image of Goku began to faze out, like an afterimage. "What" yelled Ikkaku as he tried to search for Goku left and right. However, he didn't expect the hit from behind as Goku knee-capped his back, launching him towards the wall.

"Amazing," said Roshi, astonished at Goku's skill. "He saw the technique twice and was able to copy it."

"You have to count on his ninja skills for that one Muten Roshi," responded Kakashi.

Ikkaku took off the rocks that laid on top of him as he tries to get back up. Goku walks towards and said, "It's over. You can't win this fight."

Ikkaku smirked and said, "We will see about that." He goes again on the offensive.

Goku goes into a familiar hand sign and said, "Alright, I warned you. Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" An good amount of clones appear out of thin air as they converge on Ikkaku's position.

The crowd goes wild in amazement of the level of skill. "Amazing! Goku has used a jutsu to create multiples of himself! What will Ikkaku do?"

Ikkaku stopped his attack as he stood in awe of the clones. "These are real clones, not illusions," muttered Ikkaku. "I have to be careful. Besides, this kid doesn't know who he is dealing with." As the clones converged on his position, Ikkaku swiped his wind sword around like a rag as he takes out most of the clones. However, a shadow looms over him. He looked up to see more clones.

"Take this, 100 Shadow Clone Kicks!" yelled the original Goku as he and his clones plunged themselves with both feet down to Ikkaku. Ikkaku tries to get away, but two clones hold down his legs making him unable to move. Without being able to move, Ikkaku was hit directly as an explosion occurred on the stage.

Everyone covered their eyes from the dust. As the dust subsided, everyone saw that Goku was still standing without his clones over Ikkaku, who was laying on the stage. Ikkaku was injured pretty badly as he has a broken arm and a few broken ribs. His body bruised and bloodied all over. The announcer began the count, but before he could get to four, Ikkaku stands up. His body swayed around as he looked at his opponent.

Goku stared at his opponent and dropped his fists. "There is no more reason to fight anymore. You are done."

Ikkaku grinned as he tried to regain his balance. "It's never over. I won't ever give." He summoned again his wind sword with one hand.

Goku tries to plead with Ikkaku to stop this fight. "We're done. You've lost and you are not a challenge to me anymore, so walk away."

"Never," panted Ikkau. "We are still fighting. I, Madarame Ikkaku will never walk away from a fight like a coward!" Ikkaku goes on the offensive again. However, instead of dodging or blocking, Goku just stands there.

Sakura screams out for Goku to get out of the way. Ikkaku while sprinting to Goku's position, figures out on why he isn't moving or putting up his guard. As Ikkaku approaches his position, Goku does an afterimage, leaving Ikkaku wide open for an attack. Ikkaku realizes too late as Goku comes from the side and kicks him, launching Ikkaku to the outside of the ring. Ikkaku lands outside of the ring, declaring Goku the winner.

"Winner Son Goku! What an amazing fight! Too bad that Ikkaku lost with a ring out but what an amazing fight! Can't wait to see more of it?" yelled the announcer as the crowd went wild in cheer including Sakura, Kakashi and Roshi. Goku grinned with his usual Son grin and his right hand in the sign of victory.

Meanwhile, Ma Junior watched the fight from a far, floating in the air. He came down to the ground since his fight was next but as he walked, he was evilly grinning as his plan was coming to fruition.

* * *

Author's note: **An early New Year's present. ****I think this was one of my best chapters, especially with the Gyatso and Piccolo fight. I tried to one up with Goku's fight so let me know what you think of the fights. Also, if you haven't notice, Daisuke is the characterization of a certain show that I feel is dumbing down America. I give some points for those who can figure out what the show is. If you need to translate the lingo, look it up on Google. Also, this will be the only time where characters from other shows will appear. I just put Ikkaku in because I thought it would be cool. We will also find out why Kuririn is considered a freak. BTW Namu is Nam. Let me know what you think and leave some reviews! HAPPY NEW YEARS! Peace!**

**P.S. Thanks to those who have reviewed. You guys are awesome!**


	13. The Key

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure:_

_Goku stared at his opponent and dropped his fists. "There is no more reason to fight anymore. You are done."_

_Ikkaku grinned as he tried to regain his balance. "It's never over. I won't ever give." He summoned again his wind sword with one hand._

_Goku tries to plead with Ikkaku to stop this fight. "We're done. You've lost and you are not a challenge to me anymore, so walk away."_

_"Never," panted Ikkaku. "We are still fighting. I, Madarame Ikkaku will never walk away from a fight like a coward!" Ikkaku goes on the offensive again. However, instead of dodging or blocking, Goku just stands there._

_Sakura screams out for Goku to get out of the way. Ikkaku while sprinting to Goku's position, figures out on why he isn't moving or putting up his guard. As Ikkaku approaches his position, Goku does an afterimage, leaving Ikkaku wide open for an attack. Ikkaku realizes too late as Goku comes from the side and kicks him, launching Ikkaku to the outside of the ring. Ikkaku lands outside of the ring, declaring Goku the winner._

_"Winner Son Goku! What an amazing fight! Too bad that Ikkaku lost with a ring out but what an amazing fight! Can't wait to see more of it?" yelled the announcer as the crowd went wild in cheer including Sakura, Kakashi and Roshi. Goku grinned with his usual Son grin and his right hand in the sign of victory._

_Meanwhile, Ma Junior watched the fight from a far, floating in the air. He came down to the ground since his fight was next but as he walked, he was evilly grinning as his plan was coming to fruition._

* * *

Chapter 13: "The Key"

"Son Goku has won! Despite his tiny body, he possesses unbelievable strength! Kuririn, from match #1, who sports the same uniform, was also quite the powerhouse! Just what is it with these kids?" said the announcer as the crowd went wild with cheers after the match was over between Goku and Ikkaku.

Ikkaku went up to Goku and put out his hand. "That was a great match Son Goku," said Ikkaku with a smile.

Goku with his Son grin said while shaking the hand of his former opponent, "It really was! Maybe we can fight again later on in the future."

Ikkaku smiled. "I would like that. Next time though I will be the winner."

Goku grinned as both of them continued to shake hands. "Incredible," said the announcer, "what a show of good sportsmanship. I hope that we get to see more that in the upcoming fights! Now I'd like a moment to interview these two! Kuririn come to the stage!"

Kuririn came out and stood next to Goku as the announcer walked up to them. "You got lucky Goku, hehehe," said a smiling Kuririn. "I can't wait to fight you."

Goku nodded in response with his Son grin. "My, my, you two really did great in your matches! Congratulations!" said the announcer into the microphone. "You're so small, and yet so strong! Kuririn, you're 13 years old aren't you?" Kuririn nodded. "Good and how about you Son Goku? How old are you?"

The announcer then pointed the microphone in front of Goku's face for him to talk but Goku looked at thing with a dumbfounded face. "What?" he asked, "Are you giving this to me?"

"Idiot!" yelled Kuririn in embarrassment. "This is a microphone! It's a machine that makes your voice bigger!"

Goku turned his head to the side with a dumbfounded face and response, "Ehh?" The crowd went wildly laughing at the antics of Goku.

"Hahahaha," laughed the announcer. "It seems like everyone enjoyed that little gag of yours there!"

"Don't embarrass yourself up here!" yelled a blushing Kuririn. "Just answer the question!"

Goku nodded and started to count with his fingers. "Um…mmm…9…10…11…12…12!"

"12?" asked Kuririn. "Didn't you say 14 earlier?"

"Heheheheh!" smiled Goku as he put his hands behind his head. "I don't really know how to count, but then Iruka-sensei taught me how earlier! 12 comes after 11!" The crowd went laughing loudly due to the antics of Goku. However, his teammates didn't think it was funny. Sakura was blushing with embarrassment. She clenched her fist in rage in that the next time she sees him, she will pulverize him. Sasuke was also blushing with embarrassment, thinking that how a loser like Goku could be a shinobi or even a fighter?

"Hohoh!" said the announcer. "Then the youngest fighter in this tournament is Son Goku!"

"What? Goku, you are younger than me!" yelled Kuririn in the microphone.

"But you're shorter than me, Kuririn!" Goku responded back. The crowd continued to laugh loudly.

"You guys are not doing this on purpose right?" said the announcer when he approached the two boys, thinking that this was some kind of game to them. For God's sake it was a martial arts tournament, not a comedy club! As the laughter died down, the announcer cleared his throat as he was about to speak. "Um, you two are wearing the same uniform, right? Just what dojo do you come from?"

"We don't come from a dojo, actually!" replied Kuririn. "Goku is a shinobi but we were trained by Muten Roshi!"

"Muten Roshi!" yelled the announcer as did everyone in the crowd. Those who follow the martial arts known that Muten Roshi is a great martial artists. Murmurs were heard in the crowd.

"Muten Roshi!"

"They were trained by Muten Roshi?"

"So that's why they're so awesome!"

"The Muten Roshi, which is said to be the god of martial arts?" asked the announcer, making sure that he heard correctly.

"Yes," replied Kuririn. "He said he wasn't taking disciples anymore, but made an exception. Goku trained earlier than me but he still trained under him as well." Goku nodded to the comment.

"Amzaing!" yelled the announcer. "Unbelievable! These two boys were trained by Muten Roshi himself! Now I know why they're so strong!" In the crowd, under careful disguise, Roshi blushed a bit with a smile of pride. "And it's even more amazing to know he's still alive!" Roshi fell back in anime style by the comment. Kakashi and Sakura sweatdropped at Roshi's antics.

The announcer continued, "Now, Kuririn…Match #5 is about to start, are you prepared? Ma Junior is super strong, but since you're a disciple of Muten Roshi, it shouldn't be too much for you, right?"

"Y-yes!" stuttered Kuririn. "That's right!" He blushed with pride, thinking that he could win.

"Alright then!" yelled the announcer in the microphone. "It is finally time for the semi-final round, starting with match #5! Ma Junior, please come to the stage!"

As soon as he heard the announcement, Kuririn started to tremble a bit with fear. He knew that Ma Junior was strong but could he actually win against such an opponent? "Kuririn." Kuririn looked up and saw Goku with his Son grin. "I know you can win."

Kuririn smiled. "Thanks Monkey boy."

"You better win so I can fight you in the finals," responded Goku. Kuririn nodded and Goku went back to the gate where he could watch the match from the fence. As he walked underneath the arch, Ma Junior came into picture. Goku stopped in mid-step as he looked at Kuririn's opponent, trying to figure out how powerful he was.

"Ma Junior has arrived!" said the announcer. "Now then, let us begin the next round!" The announcer got off the stage so the two fighters could have a peacefully and uninterrupted match. The crowd watched with anxiety. Both opponents were strong…very strong. The stadium was quiet. Kakashi, Sakura and especially Roshi watched with nervousness. Roshi was still trying to figure out who this Ma Junior was and why did he come here. Kuririn got into his fighting stance while Ma Junior had his arms crossed, looking intently at Kuririn. It was the calm before the storm.

"Let the match begin!" yelled the announcer and the bell was rung.

"HAAAAHHHH!" yelled Kuririn as he launched forward in a sprint towards his opponent with a punch. Ma Junior went to the side, dodging it. Kuririn continued to push forward with his punches but wasn't hitting anything. However, one punch came close to Ma Junior and he jumped back to put some distance between him and Kuririn. But Kuririn wasn't going down that easily. He launched a few kicks to Ma Junior's upper body but Ma Junior kept dodging them. All the while, his arms were still folded but he waited…waited for the counterattack.

But Kuririn wasn't going to let that happen as he continued his attack at faster speeds. Ma Junior continued to dodge but barely this time until finally…

"DEEEHHHHHH!" yelled Kuririn as he launched his punch forward causing Ma Junior to block it with his hand.

"GERRGH," said the green man as he pushed off Kuririn, separating the two warriors. The green man flexed his hand as he looked at Kuririn. "Well now, this is interesting. You caused me to use my hand."

"Heheheh," smiled the bald warrior. "Next time the punch will land on your face."

"Ha! I doubt it but intriguing. I want to test your skill little man," responded Ma Junior. "I'm going to use only my feet, no hands. Let's see if you can break through that then."

"Ok," replied Kuririn, "but you are going to have use them in a few seconds." Kuririn was ready to make his first move. He sprinted from the ground and dashed at such a quick pace. He hurled towards the green man and executed a straight punch, but Ma Junior blocked it with brown boots.

The green man switched to offensive mode and delivered penetrating, several kicks. Kuririn dodged and evaded all of those moves by just back-flipping many times. As soon the green man gave a claw strike with his left foot, Kuririn jumped in mid-air, about to give a powerful stomp, but once again Ma Junior avoided the upcoming attack. Ma Junior, once again, then delivered multiples of various kicks without using his hands and Kuririn continued to escape from all of those. The green man executed a quick sidekick, but the former Orin temple monk jumped in air and countered with a straight punch. The relentless green man swayed his whole body to evade his blows.

Kuririn turned to offensive mode and delivered unique kicks. Front kicks, sidekicks, roundhouse kicks, axe kicks, and everything else that he learned from Muten Roshi. Almost all of the time, Kuririn delivered quick sidekicks and tried to strike Ma Junior all over his body, but the green man managed to evade all of his strikes by just tilting his head and moving his whole body.

As soon Kuririn boosted up his speed, to execute quicker sidekicks, Ma Junior gave an evil grin and countered with side-step, causing his cape to be crashed by Kuririn.

"GAAAAGGHHH!" yelled Kuririn as he tried to escape from the cape until finally he jumped backwards and faced his green opponent. He got back into his fighting position and launched himself forward.

Every attack they executed, they always had a counterattack to it. Both of these fearless warriors created radical shockwaves. Kuririn quickly delivered speedy kicks and driver punches to his opponent, but Ma Junior continued to block it and evade all of his upcoming strikes and blows.

Kuririn decided to perform combinations of various punches blows to his opponent's face. As soon he executed his last punch, Ma Junior ducked down and did a swinging kick, causing Kuririn to trip. However, he was able to regain his balance by landing on one foot and launching himself into the air to begin anew his attacks.

Ma Junior countered all of Kuririn's attacks with multiples of kick techniques smack Kuririn whole body, but Kuririn dodged all of those moves and then turned to offensive mode. He countered and created various punches and kick techniques. Ma Junior continued to block all of his upcoming moves. As soon Kuririn performed his last strike, the green man found an opening and quick as a flash, kicked Kuririn very hard and into the wall, destroying it.

The crowd was silent. As soon as Kuririn came out of the rubble, the crowd went wild with cheer. This was becoming very exciting to watch. "Amazing! Simply amazing!" yelled the announcer. "What an incredible battle and at such speeds! Who will win this fight?"

Kuririn and Ma Junior continued to stare at each other. Kuririn, knowing that he had little time, tried to think of a strategy to defeat his opponent. _Man, _he thought to himself, _this guy is tough. I gotta do something or else he'll do the same thing again. If only I could…wait that's it! Why didn't I think of it before?_ Kuririn smiled and got into a sprinting position. Ma Junior curiously stared at his opponent, wondering what the little man had planned. _Only I saw twice and I saw Goku do it so if he can do it, so can I!_ Then suddenly, Kuririn disappeared, leaving an afterimage behind.

"WHAT!" yelled everyone, surprised that another person was able to perform that move…the Afterimage technique! Ma Junior was caught by surprised. He didn't think that Kuririn could perform such a move by only watching three times. Then again…

"HYAAAH!" Kuririn took this chance to perform a sneaky, surprise attack.

He delivered a surprising sidekick to Ma Junior's face which caused for him to be blown away. Kuririn then turned to offensive and battered the green man's stomach by performing multiples of straight and driver punches and blows. Ma Junior could feel the pain running inside of him as if thousands of needles were piercing into his flesh. Kuririn then delivered powerful front kicks, speedy sidekicks, and also quick jabs to every part of Ma Junior's body.

"HYAH! KYAH! HYAH! HYAH!" Kuririn vigorously yelled.

"AUGH! AUGH! GWAAH!" Ma Junior grunted in agony.

Kuririn continued to strike him at his utmost limits. Ma Junior's temper rose up and he became angry. He then had no choice, but to perform a hard-knuckled punch to Kuririn's face.

The bald warrior got blown away, but regained his balance easily. Ma Junior breathed heavily and tried to catch his breath. Kuririn was kind of shocked a bit.

"Hah, well, I see. So you do need to use your hands after all," commented Kuririn, panting.

Ma Junior tried to relax himself as he panted for air, "Well, humph. Fine no more deals."

Kuririn positioned himself in his fighting position once again as the crowd cheered. Everyone was excited by the result of this match. Goku was the most adamant about this fight. His blood was boiling by this awesome display of fighting. He couldn't wait for his turn to fight.

Ma Junior stood up and stared at Kuririn. "You have been fighting extremely well but I am afraid that this match is over."

"What do you mean?" asked Kuririn.

"I have been holding back a lot of power boy. I have been only using 50% of my true power especially my speed being slow as a result of being tied down by these weighted clothes," said Ma Junior.

Kuririn and everyone in the crowd were taken back. "What? Your bluffing!" yelled Kuririn. Ma Junior started to take off his cape and his turban. He threw them to the ground, causing it to be cracked. The crowd stood in awe by the weight of the clothes as the announcer went over to check to see if the clothes were really weighted as he said. The announcer then tried to lift the clothes and couldn't.

Everyone in the crowd, including Sakura, Sasuke and Goku as well as Kakashi and Roshi whom were the most worried at the moment. Both of them were amazed at not only at the weights but at the fact that Ma Junior was stronger than he was letting on. Kakashi wanted to make sure that Ma Junior's comment wasn't true so he lifted his hitai-ate to reveal his sharingan eye. Using the eye, Kakashi examined thoroughly and came with the result that Ma Junior wasn't lying. His power had increased, but by how much?

Roshi started to sweat nervously, hoping that Kuririn won't be hurt or even killed. Kuririn, unaware by the increase of power that Ma Junior, had continued to think that Ma Junior was bluffing and started to think of ways to defeat his opponent. But his decision was taken by when Ma Junior went on the offensive.

Ma Junior disappeared out of sight quickly which caused for Kuririn lose his focus. His speed was so great that Kuririn wasn't able track the green man's movements anymore. Shockingly, Ma Junior executed a devastating elbow strike to Kuririn's chin which caused for blood to spurt out from his lips. Ma Junior was very silent and deadly. Kuririn didn't groaned in terrible pain, yet he felt it rushing through his body.

Kuririn almost fell and tripped, but regained his balance. His nose started to bleed. _What's this? I can't see him at all. I can't keep up with his speed!_

The green man then teleported behind Kuririn and gave him a sweeping kick. Kuririn, again, almost fell, but recuperated his balance by placing his left hand on the ground for a safe landing. But Ma Junior quickly counterattacked; he grabbed Kuririn's neck to suffocate him. Then the green man delivered a petrifying elbow strike to Kuririn's chest. Ma Junior let him go and let him suffer.

"AUGH! NGH…AUGH…" moaned Kuririn as he went down onto the stage.

"DOWN! Kuririn is down!" yelled the announcer. "The count has begun! One…two…three…four…"

It seemed that Kuririn was down for the count until a voice boomed throughout the stadium. "Stand up Kuririn!" It was Goku who yelled. "You're gonna lose! C'mon, fight!"

"Five…six…seven…eight," said the announcer.

Kuririn tried to get up as he looked up and saw that Ma Junior was standing over him ominously. Kuririn regain his composure and stood up before the countdown was over.

"He's up! He has stood up!" yelled the announcer as the crowd went wild with cheer. "Amazing! Absolutely unbelievable! Fighting at such amazing speeds! This match is turning out to be one of the greatest fights that I have ever seen!"

Kuririn, while moving drunkly around, tried to figure how he could at least get the playing field at equal. He got into his fighting position, ready to strike. He then tried to trick Ma Junior by doing an afterimage, then quickly deliver a sidekick, but Ma Junior disappeared out of sight. He teleported behind Kuririn and gave two shocking sweep kicks which caused Kuririn to almost lose his balance. The green man laid flat on the ruined stage and Kuririn took his chance to strike him with a quick jab. The bald warrior tried to do his move quickly, but Ma Junior vanished out of sight once again. He reappeared several feet away from the bald warrior. Kuririn got confused, but still took the risk. He was about to give him a punch, but the green man managed to evade it and countered with a turning sidekick.

Kuririn was blown away and into another part of the wall. He quickly pushed off the rubble and dashed ahead to Ma Junior. He reappeared in front of Ma Junior, but Ma Junior quickly executed a punch to his cheek. Kuririn regained his balance as soon as possible and started to deliver strikes and blows to his opponent. Somehow, the green was able to dodge and evade all of his worthless moves. As soon Kuririn delivered his last punch, the green man countered with an elbow strike of his own. As the bald warrior was being blown away once again, Ma Junior knee striked Kuririn on his back, sending up into the air. Ma Junior then jumped and executed a back fist to Kuririn's face, sending him hard onto the stage.

BOOM!

A small crater was formed on the stage and some dust was created from the crash. Kuririn was able to stand up before almost losing consciousness. Ma Junior came down using his Bukujutsu and landed softly on the stage.

"It's about time that we ended this match. This is getting boring," said Ma Junior.

Kuririn tried to reclaim his breath as he spoke, "What?" _Dammit!_ Kuririn said to himself, _this guy is way too powerful but I won't be defeated here! I can't! But what I need is power! More power!_ Kuririn clenched his fists in anger, knowing that he didn't have enough power to defeat Ma Junior. But as he clenched his fists in anger, pebbles on the ground began to rise up into the air. A ki aura was starting to form around Kuririn. His six dots began to shine brightly and slowly were forming into some Japanese characters that said 'KEY.'

Everyone in the crowd stood in awe at Kuririn's display including Sakura, Sasuke, Goku and even Kakashi. "What is going with Kuririn Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura, hoping to get some answers.

But Kakashi didn't say anything. He had no answers right now. But as he turned his head, he saw Roshi clenching his teeth and sweating nervously. "Roshi, what's wrong?"

"Dammit!" replied Roshi. He started to move forward but was stopped when he looked at Ma Junior's face. The green man was grinning evilly. Then it hit him! This green man had planned this along! "Dammit!" cursed Roshi as he tried to navigate through the crowd and get closer to the stage without drawing attention.

Goku and Sasuke looked at the display that Kuririn was putting on and were amazed. Kuririn, himself was also amazed but he was too focused on his anger that he lost sight of his focus. He charged forward towards Ma Junior. At the last minute, Ma Junior was able to block Kuririn full attacked punch. Before this could get out of hand though, Ma Junior karate chopped Kuririn's neck, knocking him unconscious. The aura disappeared.

"What just happened?" said the announced, still in awe on Kuririn's display.

Ma Junior picked up Kuririn and put him on his shoulders. He then put on an evil grin on his face and started to laugh evilly. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The crowd stood dumbfounded as to why the green man was laughing.

"Mister Ma Junior, what is so funny?" asked the announcer.

"I finally have found it! The key!" yelled Ma Junior.

"Ma Junior, what key? What are you talking about?"

"Fool! My name is not Ma Junior…it's Piccolo!" yelled the newly named green man. "I have finally found the key to revive the great Demon Lord Slug! All you mortals shall bow before Lord Slug! HAHAHAHA!"

The crowd was silent. However, they didn't get into a panic since they didn't know who this 'Lord Slug' until an old man spoke up, "OH NO! We are doomed!"

"What do you mean old man?"

"Lord Slug was the one who almost destroyed this part of the continent in the dark times 30 years ago!"

"Wait wasn't that the Shichibi Doragon who did that?"

"No you fool," yelled the panicked old man, "It wasn't the Shichibi Doragon who did that! It was Slug!"

"I remember him!" yelled another old man. "He was terrible! We are doomed!" The crowd then started to panic. Sakura and Kakashi were caught up by this old man's tale and looked around for Roshi when they noticed that he disappeared. That is, until they saw him on the stage, staring at Piccolo.

"You won't get away with this Piccolo," said the serious Roshi.

"I already have old man," responded Piccolo. "Drum! Cymbal! Tambourine! Come out!"

From the crowd there came out three mysterious figures and onto the stage. These three figures took off their robes and revealed themselves. All of them were green however each one was a different size and had a different face. Cymbal looked like a dinosaur and was fat, but not as a fat as Drum was. Tambourine was the skinniest out of the three. "Cymbal," Piccolo said, "do it!"

"Yes sir!" spoke Cymbal as he started to do a hand sign and yelled out, "Hidden Mist Jutsu!" A heavy fog started to pick up in the stadium, covering up Piccolo and his gang.

"Wait! Come back here! Give back Kuririn!" Goku yelled as he got onto the stage and rushed ahead to where Piccolo was, ready to rescue Kuririn. He was nowhere to be found. "Dammit!" Goku cursed and before deciding where to go, Roshi went in front of him and ran ahead towards a direction. Goku decided to follow Roshi since he probably knew where they were heading.

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke then got onto the stage. "Where is Goku?" asked Kakashi.

"He went on ahead with Roshi," said Sasuke.

"Then let's follow him…and quickly," said a serious Kakashi. The two shinobi nodded and went running towards the direction in which Goku and Roshi went off to.

After a few minutes of running through the forest, Goku was able to catch up with Roshi and the rest of Squad seven as well.

"Dammit to hell!" cursed Goku as he started to pull away from the group by going on ahead.

"Wait Goku!" yelled Roshi. Goku slowed his speed for a bit.

"Why? They got Kuririn! I have to save him!"

"I know but you are not strong enough to face Piccolo," said Roshi with a serious face as he took off his sunglasses.

"What do you mean Roshi-sensei?" asked Sakura. Roshi was silent.

"There is something behind this kidnapping then?" asked Kakashi.

Roshi was still silent until finally he spoke, "Yes."

"What happened?" asked Kakashi.

"30 years ago, this side of the continent was almost wiped out by the Demon Lord Slug!"

"WHAT?" yelled everyone.

"So what that old man was saying true then," said Sasuke.

"Yes," said Roshi with a heavy voice. "The Demon Lord Slug was truly an evil creature who was fearsome and very powerful. He conjured a brood of monsters from within himself, and in a moment they transformed a world of peace into a world of death. Back then, I had tried to stop him from causing more destruction, but I was no match. Not even my master, Lord Mutaito was able to beat as well."

"Then how was he defeated then?" asked Kakashi.

"My master could not bear to allow Slug to twist and turn the world according to his whim. If he was left unchecked, the world as we know it would be destroyed," replied Roshi. "So Lord Mutaito devised a great attack…the 'Mafu-ba.' The Demon seal! With it he was able to trap the Great Demon Lord behind a mystic scroll in a temple located in the Land of Peas. But doing so, he gave his life as a sacrifice."

"Then what does Kuririn have to do with this old man?" yelled Goku.

"I'm getting there Goku! The only way to break the seal is to use the same ki as the caster," said Roshi.

"But didn't Lord Muitato die? Isn't that what you said?" said Sakura.

"Yes, but he had a son who had the same kind of ki as Lord Muitato who was an Orin temple priest at the time," said Roshi. "The ki is genetic and thus when Muitato used the Mafu-ba, the key to the seal appeared on the son's body. No one knew about this until some priests realized what the characters meant. They didn't want to go through the suffering and pain again so they wanted to make the bearer of the key life as miserable as possible. They came to this decision 13 years ago…when Kuririn was born."

Everyone flinched, especially Goku. Everyone was silent Goku looked down in sadness as he remembered when growing up; people were making his life very miserable and had even tried to kill him. Kuririn went through the same life, the same pain, the same ordeals. No wonder Kuririn had put up such a strong front. He…

"He was alone," spoke Goku.

"Yes," responded Roshi with a hint of sadness in his voice. "He was bullied very badly and some had tried to kill him. I had to take him away from there."

"So you could protect him," said Kakashi. "That is why you asked us to protect you and not the boy. To not draw suspicion to himself."

"That is correct," responded Roshi. "I'm sorry for this but you can turn back if you want to. You are not required to come along with me. It is my fault for this mess. If only I had realized this sooner."

"We are not turning back." Roshi looked up to direction in where the voice came from. It was from Goku. "We are going to save Kuririn, right Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi nodded. "Sorry to disappoint you Muten Roshi but we are coming along for the ride."

Roshi smiled, "Thank you." _And thank you Goku. You may be the only one to save Kuririn._

_Demon Temple in the Land of Peas_

"W-what…what is going?" asked Kuririn as he started to wake up. He tried to move his arms but he couldn't and saw that his hands were tied as well as his legs. "Shit! What the hell is going on here?"

"You finally woke up," said a booming voice. Kuririn turned his head to see Piccolo standing over him.

"What the hell do you want?" yelled Kuririn.

SMACK!

Kuririn was punched in the face hard by Piccolo. "Shut up you worm! I don't want to hear your pathetic voice! Your role is to be the key."

"The 'key'? What 'key'? What are you talking about?" asked Kuririn remembering that before passing out that Piccolo had mentioned about a key. The green man started to laugh evilly.

"You don't get it do you? You're the key in reviving the Great Demon Lord Slug!" said Piccolo.

"I don't get it," responded back Kuririn but somehow the words made some sense in a way.

"All those times that people gave you that look, tried to be nice to you, tried to kill and make your life miserable? It was because of who you are! Your ki is the tool necessary to revive the Demon Lord."

"Then that means that…everyone thought that I was the Demon Lord," said Kuririn as he realized what those words meant. All those harsh times at the temple, all those people acting nice and then stabbing in the back by trying to kill him, it was all because he was the 'key.' Kuririn broke down crying. He was alone. No one cared for him. No one was his friend. Not even Goku. All of them knew that he was monster and just tried to be nice with him so they could kill later.

"Oh shut up!" yelled Piccolo as he punched Kuririn in the gut causing him to spew out some bile. "I don't want to hear your crying. It's annoying. But I will ease your pain when the process is done causing you to die. HAHAHAHAHAH!"

Kuririn didn't fight back anymore. He didn't care if he lived or die. He would prefer death more than living now knowing that he was a monster. He was alone.

Piccolo walked away to get started on breaking the seal however he was interrupted when Tambourine came in. "My lord!"

"What is it Tambourine?"

"Muten Roshi and the shinobi are outside the temple!"

"What? Stop them, don't let them get near here especially Muten Roshi!"

"Yes sir!"

_Outside the Temple_

The group had arrived at the Demon temple. But before they could even start on a plan of strategy, Goku rushed in ahead, screaming out, "I'm coming to save you Kuririn! Just hang on!"

* * *

Will Goku and the gang be able to stop Piccolo's evil plan or will Kuririn succumb to the darkness? Find out on the next chapter of "Goku's New Adventure!"

* * *

**Author's note: I am so sorry that I haven't update in a while. Busy with work and my other fanfic which btw is awesome. You should check it out if you are interested in Star Wars. Anyways, I hope you guys like the battle. It took a while to write it but I think it was the best one I wrote so far. Let me know what you think of especially the part about Kuririn. I had that planned for a while now which will make for some interesting battles in the next chapter. Well gotta go and get ready for the Super Bowl! Peace!**


	14. Battle Royale

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's New Adventure:_

_"Then that means that…everyone thought that I was the Demon Lord," said Kuririn as he realized what those words meant. All those harsh times at the temple, all those people acting nice and then stabbing in the back by trying to kill him, it was all because he was the 'key.' Kuririn broke down crying. He was alone. No one cared for him. No one was his friend. Not even Goku. All of them knew that he was monster and just tried to be nice with him so they could kill later._

_"Oh shut up!" yelled Piccolo as he punched Kuririn in the gut causing him to spew out some bile. "I don't want to hear your crying. It's annoying. But I will ease your pain when the process is done causing you to die. HAHAHAHAHAH!"_

_Kuririn didn't fight back anymore. He didn't care if he lived or die. He would prefer death more than living now knowing that he was a monster. He was alone._

_Piccolo walked away to get started on breaking the seal however he was interrupted when Tambourine came in. "My lord!"_

_"What is it Tambourine?"_

_"Muten Roshi and the shinobi are outside the temple!"_

_"What? Stop them, don't let them get near here especially Muten Roshi!"_

_"Yes sir!"_

_Outside the Temple_

_The group had arrived at the Demon temple. But before they could even start on a plan of strategy, Goku rushed in ahead, screaming out, "I'm coming to save you Kuririn! Just hang on!_

* * *

Chapter 14: "Battle Royale"

"YOU DUMBASS!" yelled Sakura as she hit Goku hard on the head. "Whatever happened to surprise attack dumbass!"

"Um…sorry," replied Goku with a grin. "I really want to save Kuririn that's all."

"All of us do Goku," said Kakashi as he walked up to the two shinobis, "but we need a plan in order to do that. We can't just barge into somewhere without a plan. Especially if we are trying to sneak in here."

"Your ninja skills are lacking dufuss," said Sasuke.

"What was that?" asked Goku in anger as he clenched his fists in front of Sasuke, his chief rival.

"Planning doesn't matter anymore," said Roshi in seriousness as he looked up the stairs to see figure standing before them. "They knew we were coming anyways. Look up there." Everyone turned their heads upwards and saw the mysterious figure jump down to their level. It was Tambourine!

"Welcome to the Demon Temple!" said Tambourine with pride. "Here is where the Great Demon Lord Slug rests and will rise again!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" said Goku as he got into a fighting stance, ready to take him on. However, he was stopped when Roshi put out his hand in front of Goku.

"Where are your comrades?" asked the Turtle Hermit.

"In the lower levels," replied the green monster. "This temple has three levels, each one guarded by my brothers, Drum and Cymbal and the last one guarded by Piccolo, our great master."

"I see," said Sasuke as he stepped in front of the group. "So it basically can become one on one match if we want to right?"

"Yes you can do it that way but I wouldn't recommend it. Each of us is very strong," said Tambourine.

"Ok then, I'll be your opponent to fight you personally," said the cocky Uchiha.

"What?" asked everyone out loud.

"Sasuke, this is no time to be strong. We have to take each one out together," said Sakura since she didn't want to fight one of these monsters one on one. She might get killed!

"No," responded Sasuke, "cause the more time we spend fighting each one together, the more time Piccolo has to revive Slug."

"I see," said Roshi. "By doing the one on one matches, we can cut down on the time and catch up to Piccolo before he can revive Slug." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Ok then, Sasuke I'll leave it in your capable hands then," said Kakashi. The gang then went ahead up the stairs, bypassing Tambourine on the way up.

"Don't die Sasuke!" yelled Sakura, hoping her crush can win against these monsters.

"Don't you dare lose like last time! I still want to have our semi-final match that we didn't get to have!" yelled Goku.

"Whatever loser," shrugged the Uchiha as he stared down at his opponent.

The room was silent, speaking-wise since the footsteps of the gang could still be heard. After the noise of the footsteps was gone, both fighters got into their fighting stance. "Before we begin fighting, I am curious to know your name?" asked the green monster.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. Yours?"

"Tambourine."

The two continued to stare at each other until finally both of them moved at the same time. Both did a series of hand signs and chanted out their attacks. "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

Both spat out a ball of fire heading at each other. The balls collided, causing an explosion on the floor. As the dust cleared, Sasuke got up and did another series of hand signs and again chanted: "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

However, his opponent this time didn't use the same attack. He jumped in the air to avoid the fireball and opened his mouth. "CHOU MAKOUHOU!" A beam of energy came out from his mouth and straight at Sasuke's position. Sasuke was able to dodge it at the last minute. As he stood up, Tambourine appeared in front of him and went for the face with a punch. Sasuke was able to dodge it at the last minute by doing a back-flip.

Sasuke was able to put some distance between him and Tambourine. "So you can do fire style ninjutsu?" asked Tambourine.

"That's right, why?" replied Sasuke.

"Because I can too!"

Meanwhile, the gang continued to go down the stairs. Sakura looked back down, worried about Sasuke. "Don't worry about Sasuke, Sakura," said a voice. Sakura turned her head to the direction of the voice and it was Kakashi who spoke. "He can handle himself. Trust him." Sakura nodded and the gang continued up the stairs, almost reaching the second level.

Sasuke and Tambourine were ready to resume their intensive battle, assaulting each other momentarily. When they were closer, both of the warriors crashed blows once again. The Uchiha boy and the green monster delivered rapid punches and high kicks. Sasuke and Tambourine ended with their fists collided, causing for shockwaves to occur, and moved away from each other afterwards.

As they put some distance between each other, Sasuke closed his eyes, concentrated and opened them revealing his Sharingan eyes! He then did a series of hand signs and chanted, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" He spat a volley of small fireballs, flying wildly in every direction and assaulting Tambourine. Due to the tree climbing training that Sasuke did before, he was able to control the movements of the small fireballs using his chakra and his eyes. Tambourine was able to dodge most of them with some minor injuries until he noticed something amiss. He stopped moving, completely paralyzed in mid-air.

"What?" Tambourine yelled out loud as he looked around to see how he got trapped. Then he saw the wires in the room. _Of course, he used that ninjutsu to cover the shurkien that held the wire!_ But the wires didn't hold on for long as Tambourine expelled some ki, ripping the wires apart. He disappeared, leaving Sasuke to concentrate for his position.

Then surprisingly Tambourine came with a punch to Sasuke's cheeks, but he grasped his attack, countering with a back-flip. Tambourine opted to perform random punches yet Sasuke swiftly evaded them all and countered with a driver punch. Tambourine blocked his move and followed with a responsive punch, blowing Goku away, sending the shinobi almost crashing to a wall. Sasuke rebounded and performed a flying high sidekick. Tambourine snickered under his breath, seeing Sasuke an inch away from him. The green monster then disappeared out of sight. Goku stopped and concentrated, using his Sharingan eyes to spot his opponent.

"Over here," Tambourine said and was right above Sasuke.

"HMPH!" Sasuke looked up, his eyes strengthening.

Tambourine almost did an elbow strike to Sasuke's head, but Sasuke quickly blocked his attack with his right hand. Tambourine and Sasuke let go of each other, delivering various punches and heavy blows. They pushed off each other, putting some distance between the two. Both fighters panted for breath. The two equalized warriors had approximately the same power and speed, making their battle interesting and intensive.

"What is up with your eyes?" asked Tambourine, curious about the strange eyes that Sasuke had.

"These are sharingan eyes, an ocular ninjutsu. I am able to read your movements and copy them to my discretion," replied Sasuke. "It's a skill unique only to the Uchiha clan."

"I see," responded Tambourine, "but so did that gray-hair man as well."

"What?" Sasuke flinched. How did he know that Kakashi have the sharingan eye as well.

"Judging by your reaction, I am right then. He has only one of them, but he isn't an Uchiha," said Tambourine as he grinned evilly. "So, if I beat you, I can steal your eyes and become a very powerful being. No one would be able to stop me from bringing darkness and glory to Lord Slug!"

"Dammit!" muttered Sasuke under his breath. This battle now became a battle of survival with the prize being Sharingan eyes. Sasuke can't afford to lose here. Not now when there is so much stuff that he needed to do! Sasuke and Tambourine continued to stare at each other.

* * *

The gang finally reached the second lower level. In front of them stood a fat figure with a dragon face, standing in the middle of the room. It was Cymbal! "Impressive that you made here! However I will stop you right now!" Cymbal started to flex his muscles and trying to intimate the gang.

The gang stared at them until finally Goku spoke up, "You're weak aren't?"

Cymbal stopped moving and started to nervously sweat. _So he is actually weak!_ The gang said to themselves. "Still I am much stronger than any of you, especially that billboard brow."

"What did you say?" said an ominous voice. A red aura started to appear from behind the group as well as a large tick mark in the air. It was Sakura! "I think I can handle this," said Sakura, cracking her knuckles in rage. "If I defeat him, I can go back down and help out with Sasuke."

Goku and Roshi started to shake nervously. They knew full well Sakura's wrath and felt a bit of pity on Cymbal in that he was going to receive some major punishment. Kakashi nodded, "Okay Sakura. We will trust you in your capable hands."

"Got get them Sakura!" yelled Goku. Sakura did a thumbs up in agreement, thinking that she will win and then help out Sasuke. The rest of the gang went for the stairs to head for the second level.

The two opponents stared at each other for a while until finally Cymbal spoke up first, "So…I guess that makes you the weakest one of the group Billboard brow?"

BAM!

The wall formed some cracks due to the force of the punch that Sakura just gave. "Don't call me Billboard brow you freak!" She then got into her fighting stance, ready to take on her opponent. However she started to have doubts. _Man…_she said to herself, _What I have gotten myself into? Even though this green thing is weak, I can't possibly defeat it. I mean, Sasuke can defeat it with a few blows. I am pretty sure that Goku could do it too_ and then she remembered something, something that Goku said before.

_Flashback_

_In the fight against Zabuza_

_Goku then got into a sprinter's stance and ran towards the clone. Everyone was screaming for him to stop, that he was going to be killed. He didn't pay any attention. There was one thing in his mind. When Goku came close to the clone, the clone kicked Goku far back towards the other two genin. As Goku laid on the ground, motionless except for his hand grabbing some dirt, Sakura yelled at him, "What were you thinking, taking him by yourself! You think you are so cool, but we are genin. We can't just…"_

_Sakura stopped herself as she saw something. The tail attached to Goku's body, it moved up and down as he was getting up. Sakura couldn't believe what she just saw but she shook her head and stared at the other thing that caught her interest…Goku's hitai-ate. Goku was holding in his hand._

_Goku finally stood up, panting as he spoke to the Zabuza clone, "Hey…you…the freak with no eyebrows? Got a new listing for your bingo book right here! A guy who is going to be the next Hokage of Konohagakure…" Goku put on his hitai-ate and stared at the clone, with fire in his eyes and got into his fighter stane, "Son Goku!"_

_In the Tenkaichi Budokai_

"_AHHH!" screamed Goku in pain as one of the wind slashes got him on the shoulder._

"_Goku!" yelled Kuririn and Sakura together. Goku was in deep trouble._

_Once he stepped back, putting some distance between him and Ikkaku, Goku held his shoulder as the wind sword gave him a flesh wound. Ikkaku held down his sword as he stared at Goku._

"_Give up, boy," he said. Goku was panting. Maybe it was a good idea to give up. _

_Goku looked up with a grin and said to Ikkaku, "Can't do that. I won't ever give up! Besides it's time that I got serious too."_

_Ikkaku dropped his smile and had a serious look on his face as he spoke, "You sure talk big Goku. But I don't see where such confidence comes from!" Ikkaku then launches forward with his wind sword attack. Goku continued to dodge the sword attacks like before. And like before, he gets hit with a flesh wound and repeats the same pattern as before._

_Sakura looked onto the battle and said out loud for Kakashi and Roshi to hear, "What is Goku doing? Doesn't he know that he can't keep dodging them all the time?"_

"_I wouldn't be too sure about that," responded Roshi._

"_What do you mean?" asked Sakura._

"_Just watch Sakura," said Kakashi in a stern voice. Sakura wasn't sure what she was supposed to see or look for?_

_As Goku gets hit again, Ikkaku said, "So, is bluffing all you can do? A rookie like you can't possibly keep up." But as soon as Ikkaku said it, Goku disappeared in a puff of smoke. In his place was a piece of the broken wall. Ikkaku gasped. "What?"_

"_You're wrong," said a voice. Ikkaku turns his head around to see Goku behind, punching him in the face. Ikkaku flews for a bit and lands on the stage, skidding. He looks up to see Goku in a fighting position, smiling. "I am already catching on."_

_End of Flashback_

_If Goku can do it, so can I_. Sakura looked up at her opponent with fire burning behind her eyes, confident that she can do defeat Cymbal. She then went into a basic stance and waited.

The green monster pissed that this little girl was looking down on her, clenched his fists in anger. "Don't underestimate me girl!" Cymbal got into position and dashed forward, launching out his punch towards Sakura's face. Sakura was caught off guard at the sudden motion and took a glancing blow as she moved out of the way. She stumbled backwards, trying to ignore the throbbing in her head and concentrate.

"Nice try, girly!" said Cymbal as he led off again with a quick punch that was much slower, allowing Sakura to block it. She smiled to herself.

_See? _she told herself. _I can do this!_

Cymbal noticed the expression. "Don't get cocky, bitch!" He spun on his heel, following up his earlier attack and driving his other heel into her temple. Sakura yelped at the pain and was thrown to the ground, feeling as if her head was splitting from where she'd been hit. Her vision returned just in time to catch Cymbal's huge heel coming at her again in an axe kick that would've probably knocked her out, but she managed to roll away.

Sadly, Cymbal was still close enough to kick her in the back and send her bouncing away. Sakura staggered upright again and took up her stance, ready to face anything that came her way.

"Hm," remarked the dragon-faced green monster. "Persistent little girl aren't you." Sakura was silent in her response. "Fine, but don't blame me when you die."

Sakura snorted. "Who said I wanted you to hold back? I'm a shinobi and I'm not going to lose here! Not after we've come so far."

"Please. Lord Slug will be revived and you will be powerless to stop him and his army. You and your comrades are weak. There is nothing that you can do to stop Piccolo."

"I do know it," Sakura admitted, then a steely determination set itself in her eyes. "But I trust my comrades that they will succeed especially Sasuke and Goku. If anything they will kick Piccolo's ass when the time comes!"

Cymbal snorted as the two equalized combatants had a stare-down for a moment, vigilant and ready for any expected intentions.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the upper levels, Sasuke and Tambourine continued their fight. "Come back here!" Tambourine executed two petrifying driver punches, but, luckily, Sasuke grasped onto his attacks with his both hands. The green monster smiled as his eyes glowed and chanted, "SOUMASEN!" He fired two, thin laser beams at Sasuke, but the Uchiha prodigy bended his whole body to evade it. However he was unable to evade the shocking knee strike to his stomach by Tambourine. Tambourine tightened his fist and performed a high uppercut to Sasuke's chin. Before he could continue the attack, Sasuke momentarily disappeared. Tambourine stopped and looked around for his opponent.

Sasuke suddenly reappeared from above, giving a roundhouse kick. In response, Tambourine disappeared and reappeared behind his back, performing a knife hand chop. Sasuke smirked, disappearing as well. He then gave an elbow strike, but Tambourine blocked it. Sasuke then changed the attack with a front kick. Speedily, Tambourine blocked it as well. The equalized fighters continued to exchange blows at a fast pace once again. The Uchiha shinobi and the green monster performed several heavy blows and attacks, delivering combinations of rapid moves. Fortunately, Sasuke found an opening using his sharingan eyes and delivered a punch to Tambourine's chest, causing for him to get blown away. Tambourine crashed against the walls, but Sasuke knew this was not over yet; not yet still.

* * *

At the bottom temple floor, Piccolo started to do the preparations for the extraction of Kuririn's ki for the revival process. While preparing the scrolls and incantations, Piccolo momentarily looked up, sensing the three remaining fighters arriving at the third level. He smirked and turned his head towards Kuririn. "It's seems your friends are at the third level."

Kuririn said nothing in reply. He was still too shocked about what Piccolo had told him earlier. He was depressed. "It doesn't matter anyway," said Piccolo. "Drum will take care of them. And if not, I will. But let's begin shall we?" Piccolo then started to chant some incantations, causing an aura to appear around Kuririn.

* * *

Meanwhile, Goku, Roshi and Kakashi had reached the third lower level. Standing before them was a fat green figure. Well not as fat as Cymbal was but still fat. The three warriors stared at Drum, the remaining green monster before Piccolo. "I am impressed that you have made it this far."

"So you are weak too?" asked Goku.

"Hahaha," laughed the fat green monster. "You must be referring to my brothers. I am actually the strongest one before the great Piccolo." Then suddenly, Drum flinched. He felt something and smiled. "You are too late. The revival process has begun!"

"What?" yelled Goku. "No!" He dashed forward passing by Drum. But even before he could reach the stairs, Drum appeared in a flash, right next to him.

"DIE!"

Goku didn't have time to block or even evade the devastating punch from Drum. That is, until he was saved a quick Hatake Kakashi!

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Go Goku! I'll hold him off here!" said Kakashi as he locked his kunai with Drum. Goku nodded and went down the stairs and so did Roshi. Once their footsteps were not heard anymore, the two warriors separated from each other. Drum grunted as Kakashi's kunai slashed into his arm, not deep enough to slash muscle, but enough to send blood flying. "Impressive," Drum said with a smirk, but inwardly he was scowling. How was he able to move so fast and block his attack so well? "What is your name?"

"Hatake Kakashi. Yours?"

"Drum," replied the fat green monster. The two opponents stared down at each other for a while, figuring out the next course of action. Kakashi grabbed his hitai-tae and began to lift it, revealing his sharingan eye. Drum wide-eyed a bit, curious to why his left eye was different. That is until he remembered hearing the conversation between Sasuke and Tambourine in the upper levels. "So that is the infamous Sharingan eye? Doesn't look that threatening."

Kakashi didn't deign to answer him, instead flinging a volley of shuriken at the fat green monster, which were quickly avoided. Drum smiled nastily as he congratulated himself on an excellent evasion, but his smile vanished as Kakashi blurred into being in front of him, kunai already slashing towards his neck. Drum wasn't fast enough in his evasion and the kunai opened a small cut on his neck that leaked blood. Drum snarled at Kakashi but mostly, he was angry at himself for not taking precautions against such a skilled opponent.

The Sharingan was going to prove to be a real problem. Drum then phased out and appeared in front of Kakashi and executed a quick elbow strike, but Kakashi blocked it quickly with his two hands, in a cross formation. Both of them pushed off of each other. Kakashi started to do a series of hand signs and chanted out, "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" He spat out a big fireball heading towards Drum.

Drum stopped himself and yelled out, "CHOU MAKOUHOU!" He opened his mouth and shot out a beam of energy towards the fireball, causing an explosion in the room. As the dust and light began to fade away, both fighters were exchanging blows. Both performed various punches, kicks, and techniques to knock themselves down: Kakashi using his ninja tools and Drum using his massive arms. With each move they delivered, each one had a response to it. If this was shown at the Tenkaichi Budokai, the crowd would be in awe. However there was no audience this time and this fight was to the death. The world was at stake.

Kakashi delivered a devastating straight punch, but Drum was able to grasp his attack. However Kakashi countered with a high front kick to Drum's chin, blowing him away into the wall. As the rubble came down on Drum's location, Kakashi took a deep breath and readied himself for the next round. He had to finish this quickly. Kakashi's Sharingan consumed a massive amount of chakra, limiting its time of use and its effectiveness. So in order to win this fight, he had to finish off Drum in one blow. But the chances of that one blow were close to nothing.

Drum then got up, pushing off the rubble that surrounded him and stared at Kakashi, angry. He dashed forward to Kakashi, ready to exchange blows once more. The blows were coming at fast speeds. Due to the speed and power of each blow, gusts of wind were blown. Both Drum and Kakashi executed knee strikes to each other and still kept on going. This battle would seem to never end.

* * *

Back on the upper levels, a loud chant was heard. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke launched and fired multiples of small homing fireballs at Tambourine. However, Tambourine was able to dodge all of them. As soon as Sasuke's attack was finished, Tambourine dashed towards Sasuke. Both warriors delivered to each other petrifying roundhouse kicks, sidekicks, front kicks, and different kinds of various combinations as well. Then both of them got some distance between each other.

While Sasuke thought about his next course of action, he saw Tambourine putting up his palm and pointing it at Sasuke. "SHOCKER FLATLINE!" A beam of lighting came out of Tambourine's palms and towards Sasuke.

Sasuke got caught in the beam since he was unable to dodge the attack in time. He was paralyzed and screaming in pain, "AHHHHHH!"

Tambourine smiled as he did a series of handsigns. "It has been a great fight Sasuke, but I think it is time that we ended this. Since you love fire style ninjutsu, I am sure you will love this next attack." He stopped the handsigns, took a deep breath and chanted out, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" He spat out a line of fire that was huge, running along the floors and towards Sasuke's position and engulfing him in flames! "HAHAHAHA!" laughed Tambourine.

* * *

In the lower level, Sakura kept trying to find a way to beat Cymbal. She was close to winning but Cymbal kept escaping. While he was escaping, Cymbal spotted a broken boulder and decided to grab it. Cymbal then threw at Sakura's position. Sakura, at the last moment, was able to dodge the boulder but a shadow fell over her. It was Cymbal! He took advantage of throwing the boulder and he had gotten in Sakura's blind spot and readied his next series of attacks. Sakura was about to attack him, but was too late to do so when Cymbal delivered an elbow strike to his face. Then Cymbal opened his mouth and prepared to fire a beam of energy at Sakura, who was still in mid-air unable to dodge the attack. "CHOU MAKOUHOU!" A beam of energy came out of the mouth and directly hit Sakura, resulting in a large explosion in the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Goku and Roshi had reached the lower level where Piccolo and Kuririn were. Goku and Roshi looked on ahead and saw Piccolo standing before them and Kuririn behind him with a ki aura around the bald warrior. Goku clenched his fists and teeth in anger. "Bastard!" he screamed out. "Let Kuririn go!"

Piccolo grinned evilly. "Certainly. That is if you can defeat me."

"With pleasure," said Goku as he got into his fighting stance. However, he was knocked hard from behind, causing him to fall onto the ground, unable to move. He looked up to see who did this to him and it was Roshi! But why?

"Old man, why?" asked Goku.

"You are not ready for this Goku. Besides it is my burden to bear," responded the serious Turtle Hermit. Roshi then walked forward to where Piccolo was, staring down at his opponent and not letting him out of his sight.

"So the infamous Muten Roshi wants to challenge me? This should be interesting," said the green man.

Roshi stopped in front of Piccolo and go into his fighting stance. Piccolo smirked and he also got into a fighting position. Kuririn, meanwhile, looked up to see who was here. He saw the old man and Piccolo about to fight. He also saw Goku on the floor as well. What was Goku doing here?

A high tension was in the room. The floor and walls started to crumble due to the high energy in the room. Goku and Kuririn could only watch on this great match that was about to start. After a few moments, Roshi launched himself at Picoolo at dizzying speed, clearly not wanting to waste any time. He whipped at Piccolo with his arm, but the green man backed away in an attempt to avoid the strike. The old man continued with a roundhouse kick as his first attack missed its mark. The extended strike forced Piccolo to block rather than evade, which was exactly what the Muten Roshi was counting on. He struck his opponent with a double palm strike to his chest.

Piccolo was staggered by the blow. He gasped for air for a bit. In this state he seemed to be easy pickings for the Turtle Hermit as he attempted to follow up this attack with a strong kick. Shockingly Piccolo leapt over the old man, apparently not nearly as stunned as it first seemed. But then again, the old man had counted on this and quickly responded with a jumping kick that sent the mid-air Piccolo out towards the wall, partially destroying it.

Piccolo pushed off the rubble and smiled, twisting his arms. "Impressive. No wonder you are a great martial artist. However, this will not be enough to stop me."

"We will see about that."

Piccolo lunged at Roshi. Roshi however jumps in the air once Piccolo got close, and did a roundhouse kick. Piccolo did a handstand, and kicked Roshi's foot away, causing the Turtle Hermit to lose his midair balance. Roshi quickly putted his hand on the ground, and backflips away from Piccolo, who almost smashed Roshi with his fist. Piccolo then used his other hand to try and hit Roshi, but Roshi used his backhand to move it out of the way, and counter with a vertical kick across the Piccolo's jaw. "GUH!" Piccolo stumbled back as Roshi got in front of him and raised his fist. He then lowered it at Piccolo jumped in the air above his opposite and raised his fist, who could only block with his forearms, but that didn't do much as he was launched into the wall. Piccolo turned around in mid-air and pushed off hard against the wall.

Piccolo then tackles Roshi in midair and then kicks him down hard to the ground. Piccolo groggily tries to get up, only to have Piccolo kicked him across the face while he was still down, sending him flying towards the wall. Roshi was able to get back up to his feet, pushing off the rubble that was on top of him, though his nose was a little more crooked than it used to be.

Piccolo smiled. "You are weak old man."

This time Roshi didn't respond. He simply braced himself. Once more the green man dashed at his opponent with incredible speed. He connected with a blow from his left hand that went right through the old man…wait, right through him? What looked to Piccolo, Goku and Kuririn like Muten Roshi was apparently an illusion, some sort of After Image. Piccolo lost his concentration and started to look around for the Turtle Hermit.

"Behind you," was all Piccolo heard from the hermit before he was struck by a tremendous double chop to the back of his neck. Piccolo, after being attacked by Muten Roshi with such force took two steps forward before falling flat on his face.

Roshi, now standing over Piccolo's fallen form, gave a deep sigh of relief. "It's finally over." He started to walk until he felt something different in the room. The room felt heavy. He turned around to see Piccolo standing and angry.

Roshi backed away from the now standing Piccolo, genuinely surprised that he would be able to continue this fight. "Impossible…"

"Did you really think that weak attack could defeat me?" said a smirking Piccolo. "Well get ready!"

Muten Roshi got ready in his fighting stance, panting. Goku, who was still on the ground, trying to move, saw that something was wrong with Roshi. What was it?

Roshi dashed forward to where Piccolo was, who kept on smiling. The old man then realized something amiss but he was too late as he passed through an After Image of Piccolo. And just like last time Roshi appeared from behind with a powerful blow…that passed through an After Image of his intended target!

"What?" Roshi declared as he saw the real Piccolo coming at him from the corner of his eye. Apparently the Turtle Hermit had fallen right into Piccolo's trap!

"You fell for it!" Piccolo yelled as he struck the old man with a kick. Roshi rolled across the floor before he finally managed to get on his knees.

Roshi then charged at Piccolo, and delivered a right fist to Piccolo's face, who took the pain and countered with a right fist of his own, staggering Roshi for a couple of nanoseconds before he counters with a left fist on Piccolo's shoulder. Piccolo grabbed his shoulder in pain as he then ducked, and tripped Roshi to the ground with his leg. Piccolo jumped up in air above Roshi and intended to smash him with his feet. Roshi rolled out of the way, making Piccolo smash the floor, leaving a huge crack, as Roshi then got up and ran at his opponent.

Piccolo swung his fist at Roshi, who tried to block, but was surprised to see Piccolo had missed on purpose, and received a knee to the gut.

"AH!" Roshi fell to his knees as Piccolo then punched him on his right shoulder to the ground. Roshi fell on one knee while holding his right shoulder in pain. Piccolo then did a devastating punch to Roshi. Roshi went flying back into a wall, creating a huge dust screen upon crashing onto it. The dust cleared and it showed Roshi, semi-consciously on the floor. Piccolo laughed upon seeing this.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I knew you couldn't beat me." Piccolo laughed as he saw Roshi get up drunkenly. "You still want to fight? How pathetic. You are old and feeble. I am sure you have noticed it. You can never beat me!"

"Oh, yeah?" Roshi asked. "Then watch this!"

Roshi tore off his shirt, revealing a body covered with scars and apparently withered by age. But as Roshi concentrated, his body seemed to grow. Muscle formed on top of muscle, and new veins of power appeared.

"I've been saving this for such a special occasion!" Roshi explained. He began to bring his hands together at his sides in a familiar stance that Goku and Kuririn knew all too well.

"KA-ME-HA-ME-HA!" he shouted, throwing his hands forward.

An unstoppable tidal wave of liquid power rushed out of Roshi's body, completely swallowing up Piccolo and destroying half the wall in the room.

Goku covered his eyes from the dust as did Kuririn. As the dust cleared, Roshi could be seen, returned to his status as an old man, depleted. But that wasn't all. Piccolo still stood as well. His clothes torn and skin shredded, to be sure, but he was still alive.

"But, how?" Roshi mumbled.

"You didn't notice it but as the fight went on, you're power kept decreasing," Piccolo explained. "You are old and couldn't match me even if you wanted to. But now it is time for you to die!" Piccolo raised his hand and said, "BAKURIKIMAHA! EXPLODING POWERFUL DEMON WAVE!" From his hand came out an energy wave that consumed Roshi in an instant. However, Roshi was still standing but heavily injured. He faceplants the floor, unable to get up.

"NOOO!" Both Kuririn and Goku screamed. Goku was finally able to move and launched himself at the green man. Piccolo simply dodged Goku's every attack, finally slapping him away.

"Annoying fly," he muttered before firing another blast at Goku, seemingly killing him as well.

"Goku!" Kuririn screamed. He clenched his teeth in anger but as a consequence, his aura started to increase. Piccolo saw this and smiled. His plan to revive Lord Slug was going to be completed.

"Yes! Give in to your anger!" Piccolo said. He started to walk towards Kuririn, who was still angry it had died down. No one was coming to save him now. All hope was lost. And now Kuririn will be able to die the way destiny had set him up…alone.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAH" laughed Piccolo, excited that the revival will be completed soon. Just then, he felt as if he had been hit in the head with a boulder. When Piccolo arose, trying desperately to shake the blur out of his eyes, he gazed up at a small boy with messy hair, but something was different about him.

"You?" he started. "But I killed you!"

"No," Goku replied, his usually kind expression gone, replaced with a look of intense blood lust. "But you have taken away Kuririn and almost killed my friends. I'm here to stop you and free Kuririn!" A yellow aura of chakra formed around Goku. His hair had spiked up, giving the color black with a tint of red. His muscles bulked up and his skin became yellow. His eyes changed as well to yellow irises with a black pupil.

Roshi awoke, and felt as if his whole body was about to split open. The beating he took from Piccolo was so severe he found it difficult to lift himself up. But the sight that awaited him almost convinced the turtle hermit that he was still unconscious.

Piccolo was on his hands and knees, having been forced to the ground by some unstoppable power. Yet the only opponent present was the young boy named Goku, who stood over Piccolo, almost towering over him if he hadn't been so short.

Roshi couldn't believe his eyes. What kind of power did Goku have?

Piccolo rose, and dusted himself off. "Boy, you will live to regret that," he warned calmly.

"Well, you're half right," Goku allowed himself a wicked smirk, "I am going to live. But you? I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone, ever again."

The duo stared at each other, as silent seconds passed by that felt like an eternity.

Finally, Piccolo broke stance and charged Goku, bringing his hand down as if to chop the boy's head off with one swipe. Goku casually lifted his arm to block, stopping Piccolo's attack cold.

Piccolo's eyes widened in shock. His attacks had been avoided, dodged on occasion. A few people had even survived a direct hit. But no one had ever just stood there and taken his full power before now and not budged an inch.

"What are you?" he sneered.

"My name is Son Goku and I am going to Hokage someday!" replied the young Konohagakure shinobi, ready for the battle that lied ahead.

* * *

Will Goku be able to defeat Piccolo with his new powers? Will his teammates survive against their strong opponents? Don't miss the next chapter of "Goku's New Adventure!"

* * *

**Author's note: Hey everyone! I updated pretty quickly since I had this planned out before hand while I was writing Chapter 13 so expect the next chapter soon. I want to thank everyone that has reviewed. You guys are awesome! Keep them coming! Peace!**


	15. Power of Friendship

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

_Previously on Goku's Adventure:_

_The duo stared at each other, as silent seconds passed by that felt like an eternity._

_Finally, Piccolo broke stance and charged Goku, bringing his hand down as if to chop the boy's head off with one swipe. Goku casually lifted his arm to block, stopping Piccolo's attack cold._

_Piccolo's eyes widened in shock. His attacks had been avoided, dodged on occasion. A few people had even survived a direct hit. But no one had ever just stood there and taken his full power before now and not budged an inch._

_"What are you?" he sneered._

_"My name is Son Goku and I am going to Hokage someday!" replied the young Konohagakure shinobi, ready for the battle that lied ahead._

* * *

Chapter 15: "Power of Friendship"

"Hokage eh?" said Piccolo, staring down at his opponent, Son Goku. "Isn't that the leader of Konohagakure, the Village hidden in the leafs?"

"Yeah that's right!"

"Hehehehe," Piccolo started to laugh. "HAHAHAHA! Hokage, you? Pathetic! You are nothing but a worm! Dreams or even friendship don't exist in this world of darkness!"

"Yes, they do!" Goku replied, grabbing his opponent by the wrist and hauling him off his feet and over his own shoulder. Goku tossed Piccolo like a rag doll into a nearby wall, the impact causing it to collapse on top of him.

From the rubble, a massive burst of fire erupted, freeing the green man. He stood there, his eyes on fire as the ground quaked and shattered under his feet. Faster than the eye could see, he dove at the boy and the two engaged in furious combat.

Goku and Piccolo traded blows. It appeared that Piccolo had somehow raised his power with that last explosion of anger. Or perhaps Goku had simply caught him by surprise with his first assault. Whatever the situation, the battle was now a lot less one-sided. Both parties were equal in strength. Goku's primary advantage was his speed and mobility. He was able to bounce around, avoiding strikes and hitting Piccolo far more often. Unfortunately, even though he was slower, when the fiery green man managed to land a hit, it did a lot more damage than Goku's attacks.

The two separated from each other and put some distance between them. Piccolo stared at his opponent, curious to know how the boy had such power. "It seems that I have underestimated you boy," Piccolo said as he tried to figure out his next step. He needed to kill this boy or the revival process will stop. Then it hit him. He smirked and said, "Your power is incredible but it is no match for mine!" Piccolo got into a horse stance and started to gather his ki to increase his stats. "HYAAAH!" He screamed, causing pebbles on the floor to come up. The whole room started to shake as well as the whole temple. Roshi tried to grab a ledge to pull himself up so as to avoid the falling debris from the upper levels.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the first floor, Tambourine stared at the debris caused by his last attack. As the dust started to clear up, Tambourine felt the temple shake. "It seems that your friends have arrived at the last floor. But Piccolo is very strong. Plus you won't be able to see him since you are dead, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Tambourine laughed hard, proud that he won against such an opponent. However, when the dust and smoke finally cleared, something was amiss…there was no body! No Uchiha! "What?" he yelled out loud. Then he felt something hard hit across the cheek, sending him flying out to the wall and crashing. He pushed off the rubble that surrounded and looked up to see Sasuke standing before him. "Impossible," he muttered. "I hit you directly!"

"Are you sure about that?" said the cocky Uchiha. Using some subtle movements, he pointed at the area where the attack landed. Instead there being a burnt body, there was a burnt boulder. Tambourine was in shock until he realized that Sasuke had used a substitution jutsu at the last minute. But how? "You're wondering how I was able to do it right? I saw your move with anticipation thanks to my sharingan eyes."

Tambourine clenched his fists in anger. Damn those eyes. "Whatever. I'll just have to kill the normal way then." He took off in a dash towards Sasuke's position, lifting his arm up for a punch. Sasuke, through his sharingan eyes, was able to predict his move and blocked it accordingly. Then surprisingly Tambourine used his other hand for a punch to Sasuke's cheeks, but Sasuke was able to grasp his attack, countering it with a back-flip. Tambourine then opted to perform random punches at him yet Sasuke swiftly evaded them all and countered with a driver punch. Tambourine, by a struck of luck, was able to block his attack. He then moved and followed with a responsive punch, almost blowing Sasuke away. But it didn't work the way Tambourine was hoping it would work since Sasuke's feet dragged for a bit on the floor.

The Uchiha prodigy then looked at his opponent and smirked. "I think it's time that we ended this."

Tambourine clenched his teeth in anger. "Don't sound so cocky. I am much stronger than you!" He launched in a dash toward Sasuke and put all of his power in his right fist. However, instead of hitting his target, he went right through Sasuke! "What?" He then looked behind him and saw that Sasuke got in his blind spot, conjuring up a series of hand signs.

Sasuke finished his handsigns and chanted, "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" He spat out a big fireball hurling at Tambourine. Tambourine was able to evade the ball at the last minute and turned his body to Sasuke's direction. However, Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

That is, when Tambourine realized that Sasuke was behind him again. Tambourine gasped in surprise. "What? This guy's even faster than me!" Sasuke got out his ninja tools and hurled some shuriken at Tambourine. Tambourine evaded all the shuriken and smirked. "Is that all you got?" Tambourine was about to launch at the Uchiha kid until he felt something tug at him. Tambourine gasped in surprise again. The boy threw wires with the shuriken but unlike last time, the wires went around a column in the room rather than only around Tambourine like last time. Tambourine crashed against the column with a thud, hitting his head. He looked up and saw Sasuke.

"I can't believe that I had to use that loser's technique to beat you," said Sasuke, "but thanks to you I was able to learn a new jutsu."

Tambourine clenched his fists in anger. This couldn't be the end. "You are just a boy! You are shit! I am Tambourine, servant to the great Piccolo! You can't kill me!"

Sasuke smirked and said, "Well, let's test that theory then." Sasuke did a series of handsigns and chanted, "Fire style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" He spat out a line of fire that was huge, running along the wires until reaching their target, Tambourine. He then was engulfed in a gulf of flames, killing him. Sasuke smiled but dropped to one knee as he had expelled a lot of chakra during the fight. He was glad that it didn't go any longer than it should. He sat down and tried to collect as much chakra as possible before going downstairs to help out his comrades or face even more worthier opponents.

* * *

Back on the lowest level, Piccolo was still collecting ki to go to his maximum power. Goku in the meantime, stared at his opponent. The room kept on trembling until finally Piccolo took a deep breath and said, "Finished." He smiled and all the pebbles and rocks in the room fell down. Goku was unaffected by this display. A yellowish aura surrounded the young shinobi, with his hair was starting to get yellow highlights. Both warriors were at equal strength. Every passing second, the room started to crumble due to their great power. There was high tension until finally Piccolo made the first move. "KUCHIKARAKIOHA!" Piccolo had leapt into the sky, then spat out an energy beam out of his mouth on his young adversary from a safe distance. Goku weaved and spun to avoid the beam, then made his way his way to a nearby wall.

From there, Goku began running up the very side of the structure until he was a little above Piccolo in height. He catapulted himself off the wall and executed a perfect kick to the side of Piccolo's head, the momentum of which carried him down and into the ground, creating a small crater with a large boom!

When Goku landed, he was smiling. This fight was getting his blood boiled. Piccolo emerged from the rubble, bleeding and cracked, but not broken. Piccolo staggered a few steps from the debris, with Goku landing on his two feet. He then did a double kick to Piccolo, sending him flying back. Piccolo was able to manage to roll back to his knees as Goku leaped in the air above him and tried to attack him. Piccolo however, countered Goku's attack by uppercutting him across the chin. Goku spiraled upwards as Piccolo jumped towards him. He tried to grab Goku, but Goku quickly retaliated by grabbing Piccolo instead.

"HYYAAAHHH!" Goku kicked Piccolo down, sending him to the ground. As Piccolo was getting on his knees, Goku landed and gave a running knee to Piccolo's face, or so he thought. Piccolo at the last second, did an afterimage and went behind Goku. Goku turned around but it was too late. Piccolo's eyes gleamed and he yelled, "KOSENGAN!" Beams of energy came out of Piccolo's eyes and hit Goku directly, seemingly killing him. Piccolo smiled but his triumph was short lived as Goku poofed and turned into a piece of rock. Piccolo flinched and surprised. "A substitution jutsu!" He looked around for Goku and he was able to find him but it was too late. Goku gave a devastating punch at Piccolo's gut, sending him flying across the floor.

Piccolo stood up after that devastating hit, and panted heavily. He then charged at Goku, ready for another series of punches and kicks at his opponent. Goku and Piccolo exchanged a couple of blows here and there. When Goku and Piccolo pushed off from each other, Goku did a handsign and chanted, "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" Several copies of Goku appeared from thin air, ready to attack Piccolo. Piccolo, while a bit surprised at the number of clones that Goku conjured up, collected himself and got ready for the incoming attacks. Punches and kicks were coming at all sides with Piccolo evading and blocking most of them. However, the sheer number of clones was overwhelming as the copies of Goku kept piling up on him. Piccolo then started to gather ki with his body glowing. "CHOBAKURETSUMAHA! HYPER EXPLOSIVE DEMON WAVE!" Using himself as a nexus, Piccolo created a massive explosion in the room, shaking the entire temple.

* * *

In the level below Sasuke's room, a huge dust wind was picking up in the room where Cymbal and Sakura were fighting. The whole room was shaking due to Piccolo's latest attack as pieces of the ceiling were falling down. Cymbal was standing up proudly after seemingly killing the girl, Haruno Sakura. "Well that takes care of her. Now to help out my brothers." Cymbal turned around, ready to go up the stairs. However, something didn't feel right. He turned his head to where he had launched his previous attack on the girl to see if there was a body. There was none! There was only a broken boulder. "What? But how did she…? Before he could even finish his sentence, he heard a crackle and looked down to his feet to see a paper bomb lit. Too late for any reaction, the tag exploded.

Behind one of the columns stood Sakura, looking a little worse for wear at the moment. Sakura let out a loud sigh, thinking that the tag should have done the trick. After all, she was able to execute it thanks to the substitution jutsu. She peeks out from the side of the column, hoping to see her enemy defeated. That was not the case. Cymbal was still standing, but injured and angry. "Damn you bitch!" With that he sprinted at her as fast as he could, confident that she wouldn't be able to react in time and judging from the look she had, he was right.

_I can't track it,_ Sakura realized, terrified. _How am I supposed to dodge something I can't see!_ Then she remembered something that Muten Roshi had told her after Goku's match.

_Flashback_

"Man, how is Goku able to do that? For that matter Kuririn," Sakura asked out loud after watching Goku perform the afterimage technique.

"By using their instincts, letting their body react accordingly."

"Huh?" Sakura turned her head towards the direction of that voice. It was Roshi. "What do you mean by letting the body react or even that matter using their instincts?"

The Turtle Hermit smiled and replied, "The body knows the motions, the blocks, the punches, the kicks. All you have to do is let the body do the moving for you. That is what Goku and Kuririn are doing."

Sakura looked at the old pervert skeptically, unsure about what he said was a bunch of crap or useful advice.

_End of Flashback_

Sakura took Roshi's words as she pushed her hands to her head and shook it to clear it out. _My body knows what to do_, the pink-haired kunoichi repeated. _All I have to do is_…_react_!

Her right arm snapped up and across her body as if she was wiping a window in great circles, her left fist, fingers aimed at the ceiling, going into chamber by her left hip. She was rewarded with the satisfying shock of a solid connection as she intercepted Cymbal's coming attack and pushed it off to her right. Almost in the same instant, her left arm snapped forward, her fist rolling right side up, her left hip snapping forward, putting her full weight behind the blow.

Her attack connected full on with Cymbal's face, shattering his nose and making him stagger backwards, clutching at his large dragon-like nose that was rapidly bleeding. Things were going well for Sakura at the moment. Sakura then decided to use her next attack if the exploding tag didn't work. She runs along the floor and up the wall until a certain height. From her pouch, she took out and threw numerous kunais. Attached to these kunais were bags of cherry blossom petals. As she threw them, the petals were scattered across the room. Cymbal became distracted by the petals that he failed to see that there were exploding tags all around the room and were camouflaged by the petals until it was too late.

BOOOOOOOMM!

The whole floor rocked as a large explosion occurred causing the ceiling to be destroyed and falling directly on top Cymbal. Cymbal, unable to move, got crushed by the huge piles of debris. His face was the only thing outside of the rubble but he was long dead when Sakura cleared her eyes.

Sakura blinked and looked at the limp form in front of her, almost taking a step back in surprise. She had no clear memory of the past few seconds. There was nothing but a haze of rather satisfying impacts and flying limbs then she was looking at Cymbal dead at her feet, below a huge pile of rocks. She let out a loud sigh of relief until she heard a noise and took out a kunai for defense. But she dropped her kunai when she saw that it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed as she rushed over to hug the Uchiha. Sasuke grunted for two reasons. One for being hugged by Sakura and the second, going down the second level unexpectedly.

"You were able to defeat this guy?" Sasuke asked coolly. Sakura nodded.

"Aren't I cool Sasuke?" asked Sakura, hoping to get a reaction from Sasuke but there came none. Sasuke was already heading to the stairs to the lower level.

"C'mon," said Sasuke.

"Right!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the dust in the lowest level began to clear up. The room was starting to fall apart. Piccolo looked around to see if Goku had survived. He knew that he shouldn't do that attack again at the risk of destroying the revival chamber. Piccolo smirked but his moment of triumph was short lived when he spotted Goku blocking in front of a defenseless Muten Roshi. Goku's clothes were ripped. His knees were showing and his shirt was hanging by one side. "Impressive that you were able to survive that attack. You could have avoided injury if you didn't have to protect such weaklings." Goku clenched his teeth in anger as his aura appeared again. He dashed towards Piccolo's position and punched at Piccolo again, who rolled out of the way, and got behind his opposite. Piccolo then tried to punch Goku, only he turned around just in time, and avoided the fist before doing a somersault across Piccolo's chin. Piccolo went flying up in the air as Goku jumped right in front of him. Goku then did a kick at Piccolo, who somehow managed to dodge in midair. Goku landed and turned his back to Piccolo, who has falling right towards him. Piccolo then tries to kick Goku but he was able to grab the leg and threw Piccolo at the wall, causing the wall to crumble.

Piccolo got up from the rubble and was now completely furious. "YOU DIE NOW!" Piccolo exclaimed before he repeatedly punches at Goku. Goku managed to block all of his punches, but Piccolo suddenly stops punching and kicks Goku at his hip, bringing down his guard. Piccolo then resumed his repeated punches at Goku, only this time they were connecting to every upper part of Goku's body. Goku however is able to stop Piccolo's attack by ducking and then uppercutting to Piccolo's gut. Piccolo keeled over while Goku put some distance from his opponent. Piccolo looked up with anger in his eyes as the two warriors stared at each other for a few seconds. Then at the sound of the ceiling cracking, both warriors launched at each other, resulting in an exchange of blows that caused some shockwaves in the room.

* * *

As the temple trembled due to the shockwaves of the fight at the lowest level, none of the other floors could feel it as much as the one above it where Kakashi and Drum were fighting. The fight was locked into a stalemate. Both warriors were equally matched in terms of strength and speed. Kakashi was using different kinds of jutsus but couldn't penetrate Drum's defense. At the same time, Drum had used almost every trick that he had but all of his attacks were predicted and stopped thanks to Kakashi's sharingan.

It seemed like that it would have to take a very risky move to end the battle. Both warriors knew this. However, Kakashi started to contemplate on this since he was running out of chakra due to his sharingan eye. So Kakashi decided to force Drum into a more favorable position. He was going to use an old trick that he had used once before. It was tough, since he couldn't use hand seals, else he would tip off Drum and would require two different clone jutsu, which was very difficult to sustain. The reason Kakashi had only used the strategy once was that he'd almost passed out in the middle of a tough battle because the strain on his inner coils was tremendous. If he managed to kill Drum now, then it wouldn't matter.

"I think it is time that we ended this. We are both busy men so let's finish this." Kakashi set about gathering the required chakra.

"Interesting Hatake. Let's see if you can back up those words then!" responded Drum but he knew that it was a bluff. After all, he knew that the sharingan was putting Kakashi on a strain. So he was going to end this, not Kakashi by using a technique that would kill both of them. Drum would sacrifice his life for Piccolo and the promise of darkness to come to the world.

In the meantime, Kakashi had finished gathering the chakra necessary. He was ready. Kakashi tried not to show outward strain as he pushed the two jutsu out in front of him. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Thankfully, Drum seemed to be more interested in gathering ki for his ultimate attack than looking him at the moment. By the time the fat green monster was done gathering his ki, Kakashi's clones were in position. Drum opened his mouth to speak and Kakashi made his move, feeling perspiration soak the inside of his mask and the black jounin's uniform.

Drum's foot swept upwards, kicking the rushing jounin in the chin. Kakashi vanished like a cheap hologram as another Kakashi lunged forward, stabbing with a kunai. Drum grunted and rotated again, sweeping his other foot up in a follow through. His shin smashed into the jounin's head. He smiled as he was about to use his ultimate attack. But then, Kakashi popped in a flash of shinobi smoke.

"What?" The chirping of birds filled the air.

"Lightning Blade!"

Drum suddenly realized he'd been had. The first clone had gotten him committed to an attack, the second clone setting him up, and now the real Kakashi, or a third clone, was capitalizing on Drum's sudden vulnerability. Kakashi's hand ripped through Drum's chest. The green monster sagged, lifeless, as Kakashi wrenched his hand free. Drum fell onto the floor with a thud as Kakashi landed softly.

Kakashi sank to his knees as the strain of the trick hit him. He suddenly realized why he never used the combination. He felt like he could sleep for two weeks as it was now, but he still had things to do. He needed to help Goku and Roshi. "Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi turned his head towards the direction of the voice and saw Sakura and Sasuke coming down the stairs. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?" asked Sakura.

"I'm fine," the jounin muttered as he pulled his hirai-ate down. "I need to go down to help out Roshi and Goku. They are fighting Piccolo as we speak. You two wait outside." Both genin nodded as Kakashi popped a soldier pill to get him on his feet. The boost of chakra was appreciated and needed. The three of them went running towards the stairs, ready to help out their comrades.

* * *

The shockwaves in the room receded. Both warriors stood a few feet from each other panting, but it was Goku was panting more. Piccolo smiled and said, "It seems that new power of yours takes getting used to eh?" Goku was silent but his response was stern. However, he was too late in his response in anticipating Piccolo's next attack that sent him flying towards the wall close to where Kuririn was at.

Kuririn watched with sadness and fear in his eyes. All this time, he watched Piccolo and Goku fight and while Goku displayed an incredible amount of power, Kuririn knew that there was no hope and Goku would die. Kuririn watched as Goku got up from the rubble, panting heavily. "Why Goku? Why do you fight for me? Isn't it your dream to become Hokage?" Kuririn asked with tears in his eyes. "Don't sacrifice your life for a monster like me! I want you to achieve your dream!"

Goku was silent for a bit until finally, "Because you are my friend Kuririn."

"Huh?"

"I am fighting this battle so I can save because isn't that what friends do?" said Goku with a stern face. "They go out and help out their friends when they are in need. Isn't that right?"

"But I am a monster!"

"No you are not!" exclaimed Goku. He then turned his head and grinned. "You are my friend. That's all that matters. And the only way to save you is to beat this guy!"

Piccolo smirked. "Touching, but you will never defeat me! I will kill you and revive the Great Demon Lord Slug!"

"I won't let you!" Goku yelled as he dashed towards Piccolo's position. When he was just a few feet away, Goku disappeared. He reappeared in three different places at once, and then six different places, and then ten, all surrounding Piccolo, who was so confused, he didn't know where to look, as he was struck from every angle under the sky.

Goku materialized in front of Piccolo and let fly with a flurry of rapid-fire punches to his mid-section and head, finally finishing off with a double-footed kick that sent the Piccolo sprawling backwards.

Piccolo regained his composure and did a horizontal kick at Goku, who ducked and countered with an uppercut, but Piccolo evaded it, and countered with a horizontal chop, which Goku blocked with his forearm. Goku then shoved Piccolo back, and did a somersault, but Piccolo stepped back in order to avoid it. However Goku ran up to him and used his foot to kick Piccolo. Piccolo staggered, but quickly jumped at Goku who was in mid-air.

"HYYYYAAAHHHH!" Piccolo lowered his fist down at Goku, causing him to crash to the floor in an instant. Piccolo then went straight down at Goku with his foot facing at him. Goku rolled back to his feet and jumped in the air and put out a handsign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Copies of Goku poofed in the room and started to attack at Piccolo from all sides.

"Heh, this trick again!" Piccolo anticipated all the attacks from the copies of Goku and countered them accordingly. Unlike last time, Piccolo had no trouble defeating the clones due to Goku's tiredness. As the clones started to disappear, Piccolo searched around for the real one. Piccolo spotted the real one. Piccolo raised his feet and kicked some the clones away towards the position where the original was. He dashed forwards as the clones came crashing down and went ahead to punch Goku while he had the chance.

Goku stumbled backwards, almost unaware that Piccolo charged at him with a glowing arm. "This is the end for you!" Goku was stern in his response as he caught Piccolo's arm, using all of his strength to push back. Piccolo however, had a better leverage, pushing Goku to the wall and bringing him up. Goku, using the wall as starting point, pushed forward and threw Piccolo over his head, sending him flying off to the other wall. Goku hoped that was the end of him but he was then taken by surprise as Piccolo appeared out of nowhere, and kicked Goku in the chin. The two continued to battle each other. However, the room was starting to fall apart.

Roshi knew that he had to do something or else everyone in this room will be crushed. He tried to move but was unable to. That is until he got a helping hand from one Hatake Kakashi. "Kakashi, you look a little worse for wear."

Kakashi smiled. "I can't say the same for you." He helped Roshi up and looked at the fight that was occurring before them. Kakashi was not surprised at the least about Goku's appearance but the fact that he lasted this long against such opponent is incredible. Kakashi then went towards where Kuririn was at.

"Kuririn."

"Kakashi, is Roshi alright?" asked Kuririn, happy to see Kakashi well and wondering if Roshi was ok after receiving such a devastating attack from Piccolo.

"He is ok," replied the jonin. Kuririn let out a sigh of relief. "Now let's get you out of here." Kakashi went ahead and started to get Kuririn out of his restraints. While he was doing that, Kakashi then proceeded to put explosive tags around the shrine.

"Alright," Kakashi said as he destroyed the last of Kuririn's restraints. "Let's get out of here."

"But what about Goku?" asked Kuririn. "We can't leave him here!"

"The first priority is to get you two to safety," replied Kakashi. "I will come for Goku later." Kuririn nodded as he went to help Kakashi in lifting Roshi in their escape.

As they were escaping, Piccolo noticed that something amiss. He couldn't feel Kuririn's ki anymore. He turned his head to where the shrine was and saw Kuririn gone. "WHAT?" he yelled in anger and surprise. Where did the kid go? He then saw Kuririn, Kakashi and Roshi leaving quickly up the stairs. Piccolo was furious. "COME BACK HERE!" He dashed forward but his path was blocked by Goku who had seen the whole scene occur and had tried to distract Piccolo long enough for them to make their escape.

"Out of my way boy!"

"No," Goku said sternly.

"Fine then, I will just to kill you NOW!" Piccolo went ahead and grabbed Goku by the throat and thrusted himself upward to the ceiling using his Bukujutsu. Goku let out a cry and some blood as he was continually pounded into the ceiling. Goku couldn't counterattack. That is until there was an explosion on the floor which caused Piccolo to stop his attack. He turned his head to see the shrine engulfed in explosions. Piccolo's eyes went wide as he saw his plan to revive the Great Demon Lord Slug go down the drain. All that planning, gone. All because of this boy, Son Goku.

Piccolo furiously turned his attention to his shinobi captive. He was pissed. This kid, a shinobi from Konohagakure had dared to challenge him and look what it's got him. Piccolo knew that he played around for too long but it was time for Goku to get what he deserved. He was going to wish that he hadn't interfered with Piccolo's plans for the revival. "I am going to make you suffer boy," muttered Piccolo as he went for a series of punches at Goku's gut. Goku keeled over in pain and spewed some blood. Then Piccolo let him go and went falling to the floor and landed with a thud.

Goku got up and gasped for air. He looked sternly at Piccolo who was floating in the air. As they stared at each other, the temple was starting to fall apart due to the shockwaves of the fight and the explosion at the shrine. As the walls and ceilings of the room started to crumble, Goku sternly asked his opponent, "Hey Piccolo! How about we decide this like it was the Tenkaichi Budokai?"

"What?" Piccolo couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I am saying that we fight like it was the finals. After all I was going to face you anyways," said Goku with a grin but with a stern face.

Piccolo started laugh. "Hehehehehe…hahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHA! Very interesting kid. You can do that but I will simply just kill you instead!"

Goku nodded. "Ok. Then let's finish this!" Goku charged at the wall, using chakra to climb up the crumbling wall and jumped at the right moment when a piece of the ceiling fell down. Goku jumped on the falling rock and towards Piccolo. Piccolo, in anticipation, thrusted his arm at Goku. Goku dodged before grabbing Piccolo's arm, and throwing him upwards towards the ceiling. Due to the amount of force that Goku put in the throw, Piccolo went straight through the ceiling and into the floor where Kakashi and Drum fought. Piccolo was to regain his composure and managed to recover by landing on his feet, and then turning around to see Goku in front of him. Goku dashed forward, lifting his leg to kick and hitting Piccolo across the jaw. Piccolo recovered by landing on his hand, and back to his feet, avoiding a punch by Goku, and countered by hitting Goku's jaw with his foot.

Goku staggered back, but quickly recovered by blocking an attack from Piccolo. Goku then tries to do an uppercut, but he missed after Piccolo sidestepped away, and then elbowed Goku in the face. Then Piccolo did something that caught Goku by surprise. Piccolo extend out his arm and it kept extending! "MYSTIC ATTACK!" Piccolo caught hold of Goku's foot and started to swing him around the room, crashing him into everything. After a few seconds of punishment, Piccolo lets go of Goku and kicks him in the gut. The sound of crunching bones was music to Piccolo's ears but Goku then poofed and turned into a boulder. "Another substitution! How much energy does this kid have?" Piccolo muttered as he looked around for Goku only to be surprised by a right hook in the face. Piccolo staggers a bit before counterattacking. Goku blocked a kick from Piccolo with his forearm and then countered with a kick of his own, but Piccolo blocked it as well. Piccolo then grabbed Goku's foot and thrusted him upwards again into the ceiling, this time they went into the room where Sakura defeated Drum.

Goku landed with a thud as Piccolo used his Bukujutsu to levitate before the room below collapsed. "Ha ha! It's useless! Give up! You will never defeat me!" Piccolo laughed.

Goku stood up, panting heavily but with a stern look of determination on his face. "Never," he muttered. "This fight has only just begun. Besides, this is the final, I can't lose!"

Piccolo smirked. "You still believe that nonsense. As I told you before, I will kill you! Besides you can't even stand up properly. How are you going to fight me in that condition?"

"Because I am fighting for a greater cause," replied Goku. "I came here to rescue Kuririn and stop you. And I will do that by knocking you out!" Goku said proudly as he went into his fighting stance. He was panting heavily but knew that Piccolo was right in a way. However, he was not going to lose. After all, even though this fight has become a fight for survival, Goku can't help but feel happy. This fight was amazing and was getting his blood boiled. But in order to stop him, Goku needed to get into his ki reserves and put out all the stops. So he crossed his limbs and crouched half way down, charging all the energy around him into his body. Goku did a battle cry, creating a blazing yellow aura around him. Goku was now covered in transparent flames, but no heat was coming out, nor vapor.

Piccolo frowned in disappointed since the kid had already showed this before when he did his little transformation. So he charged at Goku, who stood still. Piccolo swung his fist, but Goku is able to duck it, and deliver a vertical elbow to Piccolo. Goku then delivered a fist to Piccolo's gut and then started to punch Piccolo repeatedly with both his hands. Piccolo staggers back with every punch he received until he rolled out of the way, and did a roundhouse kick at the back of Goku's head, sending him flying to the wall. Piccolo smirked, but gasps in surprise when Goku gets up, still standing confident with determination on his face.

_Dammit, what is it with this kid?_ Piccolo asked himself. "Boy, why do you fight so much for one insignificant being?"

"Because, he is my friend and I won't let you harm him or anyone else!" Goku cried as he expelled more of his ki and dashed toward Piccolo. He then leapt right at Piccolo and couldn't avoid the double kick from him. Piccolo flew away and into the first floor where Sasuke and Tambourine fought. Piccolo turned around in mid-air and regain his composure but was furious. "You may have survived this the first time, but the second time will be your last! KUCHIKARAKIOHA!" Piccolo opened his mouth and spat out an energy beam at Goku.

KABOOM!

A large explosion rocked the temple causing for more the structure to fall apart. Outside of the temple, the rest of gang gathered. Sakura was healing as much as she could on Roshi. Kakashi was about to leave to go help Goku when the strain began to hit him even harder. "Dammit," he muttered. _Why now?_

"I have to go and help Goku," said Roshi as he tried to get up but was stopped by Sakura. "Let me go Sakura!"

"No Roshi, you are too injured. I can't let you fight," she responded as she tried with all her might to stop Roshi from leaving.

"Listen to Sakura, Roshi-sensei," said Kuririn. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Kuririn with curiosity. "Goku will win. Trust me."

Inside the temple, the structure was falling apart. Piccolo was still levitating in the air, hoping that he had finally won the match. However, as the dust began to clear up, there was no sign of a body. Piccolo looked around to see if Goku had indeed been killed. His hopes were dashed when he saw Goku standing before him on the first floor. "WHAT?" Piccolo was surprised to see that Goku was able to dodge his most powerful move again, however he noticed something different about Goku. His aura was going in and out and at the same time, Goku was panting heavily.

Piccolo smirked. "So you do have a weakness. I suppose that aura of yours doesn't last forever. Even though you have incredible power due to that strange transformation, you can't avoid the lack of energy. Any moment now, you will be a lifeless puppet." Piccolo then made a serious and angry expression. "Now I can squish you like the bug that you are!" Piccolo dashed downwards and into Goku.

Goku tries to block the attack and counterattack before getting tackled by Piccolo. Piccolo then punches at Goku's shoulder, causing him to cry in sheer pain. "ERRGH!" Goku counters the attack by grabbing hold of Piccolo's upper body and headbutted him, causing Piccolo to stagger backwards.

"Grr... THAT'S IT!" Before Goku could continue his assault with his shadow clone jutsu, Piccolo kicks him away, cancelling Goku's move. "I AM THROUGH PLAYING GAMES!" Piccolo charges up his own body, creating a purple aura around him. He jumped upwards into the sky. Everyone outside of the temple were caught by surprise, primarily because Goku was nowhere to be seen. "SEE YA LATER, FOOL! BAKURIKIMAHA!" Piccolo charges up his attack in the palm of his hand, creating a large ki ball with sparks coming out of it. He shoots towards the temple, completely destroying half the structure that stood.

"GOKU!" Kuririn yelled. Piccolo almost felt unconscious due to the strain of that last attack, but was glad that he finally won against Goku. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! I did it! I finally killed him! I will at last be able to build the demonic and chaotic world that Lord Slug will bring! Once I take care of the rest, nothing will stop me!"

"Not.. so.. fast!"

Piccolo stopped laughing when he turned his head to see Goku in the air in a higher position than him. Piccolo's eyes widened at the sight of Goku. "N-N-N-No! That is not possible!" Piccolo exclaimed.

"It's time to finish this! And this will do the trick!" Goku threw his hands forward in a cupped position in the direction of Piccolo.

"No! I cant lose!" Piccolo yelled.

Goku then drew both his hands together at his sides. The force of the wind blowing up his face as he called out, "KA…ME…HA…ME…"

Piccolo tried to right himself and erect a hastily-prepared screen for protection, but it was too little too late.

"HAAAA!" Goku roared as he shot his hands forwards, releasing an unstoppable flow of liquid blue power that slammed into Piccolo, extinguishing his defenses and sending him down to the ground.

KAA AA AAB OOO OO OOO OOO OOO OOO OO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO MMM

The Kamehameha wave tore at Piccolo, shattering his body as the force of Goku's rage broke his spirit as he landed with a thud on the ground in the crater. In the aftermath, the dust settled and Goku's breathing returned to normal. The transformation disappeared with the eyes and hair returning to normal and the kind boy reappeared. He started to pass out as he was gradually falling fast to the ground. But thanks to some quick saving by Kakashi, Goku was saved.

"You did it Goku!" yelled everyone except Sasuke and Kakashi. Goku, who was in Kakashi's arms, waved with the last strength that he had at his companions. Kakashi let go of Goku as he laid him along a rock. Kakashi smiled as he was hugged by Kuririn. However, he knew the battle wasn't over. He started to walk over to where Piccolo was at.

"We need to get to you to a hospital!" exclaimed Sakura but was stopped by Roshi.

"No need," said Roshi as he pulled something out from his pocket. It was some green beans. He walked over to Goku and put a bean in his mouth. "Here, eat this." Goku started to eat and suddenly something felt different. All of his injuries were gone and felt like a completely different person. Goku jumped up at the surprise of Sakura and the rest of the gang.

"Wow, I feel totally different. What was that old man?" asked Goku.

"Trade secret. But you will learn soon enough about these beans later on," replied Roshi. Goku grinned with his Son grin.

"Thanks Goku," said Kuririn.

"No problem Kuririn. After all, we are friends," said Goku with a smile. Kuririn nodded.

Meanwhile, Piccolo laid in pain from Goku's attack and couldn't move. When he opened his eyes, he saw Kakashi standing over him. "So, you are going to finish me off then."

Kakashi nodded as lightning ball appeared in his hand. But before he hit Piccolo, he stopped when Goku stepped in front of Kakashi. "Goku, what are you doing?"

"Don't kill him."

"Why?"

"Because, I want to fight him again," replied Goku with a stern face.

"What? Are you crazy Goku? He just tried to kill you and Kuririn."

"No, he won't. If he lives, I'll just fight him again and I will beat him again. Besides, I wasn't able to save Haku from dying and also I was having a lot of fun," said Goku. Kakashi sighed as the ball disappeared. Goku then turned his head to Roshi and yelled, "Hey old man, can you give me another one of those beans?"

"Ummm…sure Goku," replied Roshi. _I always knew that he had an appetite but isn't that too much?_ Roshi threw another bean at Goku.

Goku caught the bean and did something unthinkable…he gave it to Piccolo! "Swallow this, you'll feel better."

Everyone flinched in shock. "Goku, what are you doing?"

Piccolo chewed on the bean and had the same reaction that Goku had earlier when he ate the bean. He got up and jumped backwards putting some distance between him and the gang. "Are you a dumbass Goku?" yelled Sakura. "Have you lost your mind?"

"No I haven't," replied Goku as he sternly looked at Piccolo. "I just wanted to help him out. Besides, I want to get to fight him later in the future!"

"Heh," grinned Piccolo. "As I said before, your feelings will be your doom. Mercy is a weakness that I don't have. I'm leaving for now, but I'll be back. I'll destroy you and your friends. Screw Slug! The world will be mine instead!" Piccolo flew away and into the distant setting.

Goku looked on and smiled. _And when you do come back_, Goku said to himself, _I'll be waiting. I have beaten you once and I can do it again._

"Well Goku," said Roshi as he patted Goku on the shoulder, "it seems that you have a responsibility now to train harder then. Remember, in this world, there is always a higher step above the highest! There still exists a ton of people stronger than you." Goku nodded in agreement as everyone looked to the setting sun, ready to head home.

GRUMBLE!

"Is Piccolo back?" asked Sakura.

"Actually that was my stomach," said Goku with a Son grin while everyone fell backwards in anime style.

"Well, let's grab some dinner then," said Roshi. Goku nodded in agreement with his mouth open and saliva pouring out like a waterfall.

That night, at the restaurant, Goku and the gang ate dinner but it was mostly Goku the one doing the eating. He kept on eating like it was like his last meal on earth. The waiter brought everything that you could think of: ramen, pork, fish, meat, and everything else. Goku kept on eating everything. The waiter nervously walked to Roshi and asked, "Do you guys want more?"

Roshi, without moving a muscle, responded with a simple, "Yes."

A few minutes later, Goku put down his plate in satisfaction with a grin on his face. "I sure ate a lot!"

Everyone else looked on in surprise especially Sakura and Kuririn. "He ate enough for thirty people, didn't he?" asked Kuririn.

"No," replied Sakura, "that was enough for 50."

Goku then looked at the waiter and asked, "Hey, can you give me two more of these?" Everyone fell down in anime style.

"What are you Goku?" Sakura muttered.

The waiter sweatdropped a bit at the question made by Goku when he said, "Um, I am very sorry but unfortunately we are out of ingredients. In fact, we can't cook anything else." How could this kid want more food?

"Ah well," Goku said, "I guess it's good to eat moderately!" Everyone fell down again at Goku's antics. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

_The next day_

"YAAHHH!" yawned Goku as he got up from his campsite. Due to Goku's eating, Roshi had to pay about 470,000 ryo for the meal. As a result, Roshi didn't have enough money for a hotel so the gang decided to stay and camp outside for the night. Everyone had woken up earlier and were putting away their stuff for the travel ahead.

"Ah Goku you finally woke up," said Roshi. Goku nodded as he got into his new clothes since the one that Roshi had given were tarnished and destroyed beyond belief. He put on his blue gi shirt, yellow pants, orange wristbands, black boots and white sash where his Leaf hitai-ate was attached to.

"Hey guys, I got the newspaper. You won't believe who won the Tenkaichi Budokai!" Sakura exclaimed as she came running to the camp site. Kuririn, who had woken just recently before Goku, grabbed the newspaper and read it out loud.

"Hercule Satan, winner of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai! Due to the contestants leaving the arena, the committee had to get the finalists from the preliminaries that didn't get through to the finals. Hercule Satan, proclaimed Martial Artist, won the tournament with ease as he had called out on the previous fighters for their cheap tricks." Kuririn closed the newspaper and said, "Well, he doesn't look strong. I wonder who beat him?"

Goku looked at the picture that was on the front page and smiled. "That guy looks funny," said Goku. Everyone that was present giggled at Goku's comment because Mr. Satan did indeed look funny with his afro. Who has that kind of hair?

"Anyways," said Kakashi, "I think it is about time that we left." The three genin nodded in agreement and packed away their stuff. As soon as they were finished, Kakashi and the three genin began to say their goodbyes to both Roshi and Kuririn. "It was a pleasure working with you Muten Roshi. I hope we can help you anytime soon," said Kakashi as he shook Roshi's hand.

"I hope not," Roshi smiled. He turned his head to see Goku and Kuririn standing in front of each other.

"Well Monkey Boy, hope you don't get killed. Wouldn't want to say that I won by default," said Kuririn with smile.

"Whatever bald boy," Goku smiled and put out his hand.

Kuririn looked Goku curiously and asked, "Why are putting your hand out?"

"Cause I want to shake your hand, as proof of our friendship," replied Goku.

Kuririn smiled and shook Goku's hand with firmness. _Thank you Goku…for everything_.

"Well," said Kakashi, "it's time that we get moving."

Goku nodded and turned his head to Kuririn and asked, "So what are you going to do Kuririn?"

"Well I am going to train with Muten Roshi a bit more so I can beat you. Don't worry, in a few months, I will be a completely new warrior."

Goku grinned and said, "Can't wait for it! It will be an exciting match!" Kuririn smiled and waved his hand in goodbye as squad 7 went on ahead on the path back to Konohagakure.

"Goodbye guys! Take care!" yelled both Kuririn and Roshi as they waved goodbye to their friends. Roshi looked at Kuririn and smiled. _Thanks to Goku, Kuririn has become a completely different person. Goku has changed a lot since the last time I saw him. He may become the greatest shinobi ever but he needs to be careful of that power. I hope that you can help him…_Roshi looked up and to a branch where he saw some silver hair flowing in the winds, _Toad Sage!_

Back at the temple, underneath all the rocks and debris, a shrine, though half of it destroyed, still stood among the chaos that surrounded it. In that shrine, the sealing scroll that was left there by Piccolo began to light up. Cracking noises were heard as the scroll began to crack at pieces. Out of one of the holes, there was a black pupil eye peering out with a scar running along it and an evil smile on a green face.

* * *

**Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying this week as I am. This chapter took a while to write especially doing four different battles at the same time. Hopefully I don't have to write like that again. But who knows? Anyways, let me know what you think of these battles and the arc in general. I really like hearing your opinions. Peace!**


	16. ANNOUNCEMENT!

**Hey everybody! How is it going? Listen I have some bad news for my fans of this story. I am going to stop writing it. I am sorry but I lost the motivation to do it, seeing that more people are reading Saiyan in Mahora. I enjoy the reviews that you have left me but I think it is time to stop.**

**However, I am willing to allow people to adopt this story so long as I know about it. If you are interested, send me a PM so I can tell certain things about the story that you should include.**

**I am very sad for stopping this story. It was the first one that I published on this website and damn proud. But it is time to let it go.**

**Thank you all for your support and see ya around! Peace!**


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